Coach confident karatekas ready to fight at SEA Games

Coach confident karatekas ready to fight at SEA Games

JAKARTA (JP): Karate coach Willem Mantiri is upbeat that
Indonesian fighters will have good results at the Kuala Lumpur
Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in September.

"All karatekas are here to give their best as their official
duty to represent this country. They must remember that
Indonesian citizens are financing their training," Willem told
The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

"Therefore they must give their absolute best in the
competition as we have been grooming them with strong discipline
and hard work."

The Indonesian Karate Federation (Forki) will field 11
karatekas in the men's division and eight karatekas for the
women's side in the Sept. 8 to Sept. 17 Games.

When asked on the chances that the karatekas would have in
Kuala Lumpur, Willem was optimistic that Indonesia would get good
results.

"Our karatekas are still the best in the Southeast Asia
region. We have reached a good performance level in Asia and
internationally. We must maintain our accomplishments.

"How can we attain good results at the Asian Games or Olympics
if we don't deal with the obstacles at the SEA Games. We should
not be deterred by other countries' preparation, especially by
host Malaysia's claim to have primed itself to grab most of the
golds at stake."

Malaysia has been reported to have set a target of 14 of the
19 golds available, while Forki has targeted seven golds.

"Let them set a high target but they won't get them that
easily. We have prepared our karatekas to excel at all the
categories because we don't have any other option," said Willem.

"Karate is determined by the juries and judges. Sometimes they
are very subjective and favor the host country.

"That's why our karatekas have to surpass their opponents.
Even spectators will notice if the judges or juries do not award
them fairly."

Willem also said all karatekas had been prepared to adapt to
the new regulations, especially in the kumite events.

"We are drilling them more on evasive and feint techniques as
well as using their legs more often. Our karatekas tend to use
their tsuki (punch) instead of their geri (kick)."

"I'll give them special training to improve their harai
(sweep) which is useful in feinting as well as initiating
attacks. It will allow them to use combined techniques to earn
points.

"Since an attack is the best defense, all karatekas must try
to earn points earlier in the match than their opponents. Then
they just have to wait for their opponents to make mistakes and
launch counterattacks," he added.

The karatekas are scheduled to have a trial session on June 23
and June 24 with runners-up from the National Games (PON) and
National Championships. (nvn)