Chiang Mai Games to stage 28 sports

Chiang Mai Games to stage 28 sports

JAKARTA (JP): The 18th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games organizing committee has turned down Indonesia's request to see three events make a comeback at the regional sports meet in Chiang Mai in December.

President of the National Sports Council Surono told reporters on Tuesday that host Thailand has excluded karate, wushu and wrestling from among the 28 full-fledged medal events.

"It is a big upset for us since we have better chances in these events, particularly wrestling and karate," said Surono.

Wrestling, Indonesia's gold mine sport, made its last appearance in 1987, in Jakarta. The two martial arts, karate and wushu, were last competed in the 1993 Games in Singapore. The last SEA Games staged a total of 32 sports.

However, Surono strongly believes that Indonesia will retain the overall title for a record ninth time. Thailand spoiled Indonesia's long-time reign when it hosted the 1985 sporting extravaganza in Bangkok.

The Chiang Mai Games, slated for Dec. 9-17, will have a total of 334 gold medals up for grabs, of which 117 are offered in track and field, swimming and shooting. Track and field provides 45 golds, swimming, including diving and water polo, 38, and 34 in shooting.

"We have to battle it out in those three sports. We must be aware that the host country is eying a golden scoop in these competitions," Surono said.

The other 24 sports to be contested are archery, badminton, basketball, billiard, bowling, boxing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, golf, gymnastics, hockey, judo, pencak silat, rowing, rugby, sepak takraw, soccer, squash, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball, weight lifting and yachting.

Another sports council official, Timbul Thomas Lubis, said that Thailand failed to approve Indonesia's request after its bid to include its own traditional martial art kick boxing was expelled by the SEA Game Federation.

"The Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore are other staunch backers of wushu for the upcoming Games," Timbul said. "However, the host has the right to veto," he added.

Indonesia has yet to set out its preparations for the Games. Surono said the centralized training center for the SEA Games would be under the responsibility of the new sports council leadership board, to be elected in a national congress at the end of this month.

Chiang Mai, a hilly tourist resort in northern Thailand, is working on the sports facility projects, as well as its traffic and security system, for both the Games participants and spectators.

The organizing committee's Information Center said that the province is building a four-lane highway to connect the downtown area with all the sports venues, Antara reported.

A total of 3,000 policemen and volunteers will be deployed to help the organizers run the sports meet smoothly, the information center said. (amd)