Chinese athletes ready for action in Sidoarjo
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
Gold medals and records are on the minds of Chinese athletes who have arrived in Surabaya for the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix 2005 series in neighboring Sidoarjo.
Chinese team spokeswoman Xia Meng said on Thursday that China was represented by 18 top athletes, including men's javelin thrower Li Rong Xiang, women's 400-meter hurdler Yao Yuehua and women's discus thrower Song Aimin.
"We want to win this leg and our athletes will also do their best to break Asian records," she told a press conference in Surabaya before leaving for a training session at Sidoarjo stadium.
A total of 19 countries are represented in the first stop of the three-leg Asian Grand Prix 2005. Each winner in the 16 events on Saturday will take home prize money of US$2,500.
Li was the 2002 Asian Games gold medalist and five-time national champion, in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2003; Yao was two-time 400-meter hurdle winner in the national championship in 2002 and 2004, and Song was the 2002 Asian Games silver medalist.
Li, whose best record is 83.32 meters, will have to overcome Park Jae-Myong of South Korea, with a best of 83.99, and Tarzumanov Rinat of Uzbekistan (79.88).
In the 400-meter hurdles, Yao, with a personal best of 55.63 seconds, will be challenged by Kazakhstan's Alimzhanova Netalya (55.08) and Pedan Galine of Kyrgyzstan (56.16)
Song, who has a best mark of 64.90 meters, is likely to face his stiffest competition from Indians Antil Seema (64.64) and Neelam J. Singh (63.99).
India also brought its world class shot putters Ranvijay Singh (best of 20.29 meters) and Navpreet Singh (19.93) in its 19- strong contingent.
Athletics Association of Indonesia (PASI) chief Mohamad "Bob" Hasan said the event would be an opportunity for local runners to observe their international competitors in an effort to emulate them.
"We're not talking about achievements here, it is still too far off for our athletes," he said of the 28-strong delegation.
"We want our coaches to watch top athletes compete here and later set their coaching standards to produce such top athletes from Indonesia."