Champion Juana may be kept out of SEAG
Champion Juana may be kept out of SEAG
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Taekwondo Association is still in
doubt about fielding team backbone Juana Wangsa Putri in the
upcoming 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei Darussalam
next month.
Association chairman Suharto told reporters on Thursday that
Juana's name was not on the list submitted to the Games
organizers last week, but said he would approach the National
Sports Council (KONI) to ask if Juana can compete in the event.
The deadline for athlete name submissions was on July 10.
"However, Juana is focussing on competing in the 2000 Olympics
in Sydney. If she competes in the SEA Games, we must be sure she
won't get hurt because until now she's the only taekwon doin
qualified for the Olympics," said Suharto after welcoming Juana
at the Soekarno-Hatta international airport.
"If I have to compete in the SEA Games I must be prepared,"
Juana said, adding her toughest rivals would come from Thailand
and Vietnam.
Indonesia grabbed six of 16 gold medals on offer in tae kwon
do events at the 1997 Games here. This year, the association is
keeping a low profile and only hopes for four of 16 golds at
stake.
Juana, competing in the women's flyweight Olympic division,
qualified for the Olympics after she reached the semifinals of
the pre-Olympics qualifying round in Croatia from July 8 to July
11.
She beat Tshering Choki of Bhutan in the first round, defeated
Laurence Rase of Belgium in the second round and won over Noa
Shmida of Israel in the quarterfinals.
Juana lost to American Kay Poe in the semis with a right leg
injury from the quarterfinals match. Poe won the tournament after
beating Dondu Guveno of Turkey in the final. Another qualifier is
Huan Mai Thi Nguyen of Vietnam.
"Kay's speed was very fast and I barely moved my injured leg.
I was unable to kick during the match," she said.
Coach Oh Il-nam said Juana was in doubt before fighting Poe.
"But I told her to learn something from the match because she
will meet her at the Olympics anyway. I hope in the remaining
one-year period, Juana can improve her weaknesses," he said.
Juana, Dominggus Wasanono Boro (men's fider Olympic) and
Veronica Widyarini (women's fider Olympic) competed in the
qualifying round. Both Dominggus and Veronica crashed in the
first rounds. While Satrio Rahardani (men's fly Olympic) failed
to compete after suffering chicken pox.
"Dominggus, who usually competes in the bantamweight, had to
gain weight in a very short time due to the limited division for
the Olympics qualification. It made him lose his energy. While
Veronica lacks experience. Her only international tournament was
the 1997 SEA Games," Oh said.
According to Olympics rules, tae kwon do features only eight
divisions: men's and women's fly Olympic, men's and women's fider
Olympic, men's and women's welter Olympic and men's and women's
heavy Olympic.(yan)