Bowling team to train despite disagreement

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's 19th SEA Games bowling team have agreed to continue training despite a disagreement with their team manager.

The 10 athletes agreed to continue their program in a meeting with Games training director Djoko Pramono on Monday.

They said Sunday that they would submit a petition to the bowling team manager because of disagreements at the training center.

On the team are Poppy Tambis, Lie Yu Cam, Colin Linggawan, Oyke Wayong, David Sitorus, Donto Nurachman, Gatot Nugroho, Ira Chandra, Yani Ruzgar and Lily Suhaeni.

"All matters relating to the petition letter have been handed over to Pak Djoko, and we will continue training for the SEA Games," Poppy said, as quoted by Antara.

Poppy, who was a bronze medalist at the 18th SEA Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, did not want to reveal the petition's contents.

But Djoko said the conflict was a result of miscommunication between the athletes and team manager Sugeng Suryadi.

"I am confident that the conflict will be settled once I meet with the Indonesian Bowling Association chairman on Tuesday," he said.

"Our focus is now on the SEA Games and all matters should be finalized as soon as possible, not only bowling's problems but also those of other sports," Djoko said.

Women's soccer

Djoko has also received complaints from the women's soccer team who reported that they were having to training in the rain.

He said he had tried hard to arrange for the women to train at Kuningan stadium.

"What can I do, the Games organizer decided that the women should train at Pajajaran stadium in Bogor in the rain," he said.

Djoko, however, said they should make the most of this opportunity in case it rained during the competition.

"I only want you (athletes) to take care of your health."

Trial matches

Indonesian Soccer Association tournament director Dali Tahir said Monday that it was not certain whether the SEA Games men's soccer team would still hold trial matches with foreign teams.

"There are still some problems which have to be discussed about bringing in foreign teams, including the Tanzanian team which is scheduled to arrive here next week," he said.

As for the Tanzanian team, Dali said the association would lobby for the original plan to go ahead.

"We will hold a meeting on Wednesday about the plan to bring in the Tanzanian team," Dali said.

The association had earlier planned to hold a number of competitions between the national team and teams from the United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand, Oman and Tanzania.

UAE and Australia said they could not play in Indonesia while New Zealand, Oman and Tanzania have yet to decide. (lnt)