Beach spikers to tour Australia ahead of 2002 Asian Games

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian beach volleyball players plan to tour Australia for around eight weeks as part of their preparations for the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea.

During their Australian outing, which will start next January, the national squad is scheduled to take up a series of matches with local clubs.

"We want to extend further their training workout so that they can achieve good results at the 2002 Asian Games," Rita Subowo, chairwoman of the Indonesian Volleyball Association (PBVSI), told reporters here over the weekend.

The Indonesian team bound for Australia comprises six men, under the coaching of Slamet Mulyanto, and four women, under Australian head coach Ken Breen.

The association will drop two of the male players for a fixed four men's and four women's team for the Korean trip.

Rita said based on their recent showings, the beach volleyball players would stand a realistically good chance of winning medals in Busan.

"We have reached finals on many occasions. Hopefully, we can win a gold at the Asian Games.

"We have to admit that we are not well informed about the opponents' strengths, but we will be striving hard to win the gold medal," Rita said.

At the last Asian Games in Bangkok in 1998, the Indonesian male team of Irikhun Sofanna and Agus Salim fell short of winning the gold after being defeated in the final.

After their Australian outing, the current national players are scheduled to carry on with the World Series, with the aim of improving their world rankings. They will put a final touch on their Asian Games preparations at the Asian Beach Volleyball Championships in Bali early in September.

PBVSI has decided against sending an indoor volleyball team to Busan, following its dismal performance at the recent Kuala Lumpur SEA Games where the men's team, which had made medal- winning a tradition, was dumped from the top three.