China not hopeful at Asian c'ship

JAKARTA (JP): China admitted yesterday that the absence of supercoach Ma Junren and his women runners would jeopardize its title defense attempt at the 11th Asian Track and Field Championships here.

"I think we have suffered a big loss since Mr. Ma was sidelined from the national team," said Huang Zhi, Secretary- General of the Chinese Athletic Association.

Ma, renowned for his magic potion and the herculean training methods that led his runners to world record breaking strides in 1993, is currently taking a long rest after a car accident in January. Huang said Ma was getting better but could not return to his old job.

"A national coaching job is not a permanent one. We have numerous coaches who have to pass a selection program to train the national team," Huang said.

"Mr. Ma cannot even join the national team for the Olympic Games next year because we only have less than one year for preparations," he added.

Huang also said that Ma's runners, including women's 1,500m record holder Qu Yunxia, did not qualify for the Asian track and field meet since they no longer train regularly.

China comes into the biennial event, scheduled to start tomorrow, with newcomers spearheading its title defense campaign.

"We will not expect too much from our athletes but to provide them with a great deal of experiences in their ongoing preparations for the Olympic Games next year," Huang said.

"We want to raise the standards of our young athletes who are being groomed for the Olympics," he added.

Wang Junxia, the women's 10,000m world record holder and Ma's deserted runner, and several athletes who donned the national colors in the World Championships in Gothenburg last month are also part of the team line up. But Huang has opted for a low profile.

"Japan and Central Asian teams are our strong contenders," he said.

Wang, who is seeking 5,000m and 10,000m victories here, warmed up for the championships at the Madya Senayan stadium yesterday.

The track and field meet, held here for the second time, will miss several big names, but the organizers denied that it would lose any vitality.

"We always suffer from this problem of several teams not bringing their best athletes. But generally the participants meet the Asian standards," Maurice Nicholas, Vice President of the Asian Amateur Athletic Association (AAAA), told a press conference yesterday.

AAAA's plenary congress, highlighted by the election for the association's presidency, will precede the five-day championships today. Nicholas made it clear that the incumbent president Mohammad "Bob" Hasan has come out as the red-hot favorite.

"Mr. Hasan has a good track record, and I don't think he will have any problems serving a second four-year term," Nicholas said.

El-Dasthi of Kuwait is the other candidate vying for the top job, but Nicholas said AAAA still needs the Indonesian timber tycoon to attract sponsorships. "Mr. Hasan is the right person to make Asian athletics more attractive and better in quality," he said. (amd)