Billiard body to choose 14 players for SEA Games

Billiard body to choose 14 players for SEA Games

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's snooker coach Hendro T. Nuraji said
the Indonesian Billiard and Snooker Association (POBSI) was ready
to select 14 of 20 players for preparations for the 20th
Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Hendro said on Wednesday the national team, to compete in the
biennial event in Brunei Darussalam from Aug. 7 to Aug. 15, will
comprise three players in the snooker event, three players in the
English billiard event, four players in the nine-ball event and
another four in the 15-ball event. Announcement of the 14 players
is scheduled for June 4.

"In the snooker event, Rudi Sulaeman has been training in
Australia at his own expense for several months. Other candidates
are Sayumin, Peng K Sen, Bernhard and Hek Ta," he said at the
billiard training center in Ciracas, Tangerang.

Brunei, which will host the Games for the first time, will not
feature all billiard events, unlike the Indonesian hosting of the
1997 SEA Games.

Indonesia will miss opportunities to win gold from carome
events as they will not be featured at the event.

"We had a big chance to win gold in the carome because Vietnam
is our only strong opponent," Hendro told Antara.

"If we could compete in carome, we could win two golds as
promised by POBSI chairman, Putera Astaman, earlier."

Due to limited finances, POBSI is yet to announce any plans to
send players for tryouts abroad. Indonesia made a clean sweep of
12 golds in the 1997 SEA Games here. (yan)