Cyclists eying first SEAG gold

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Cycling Association expects to win the women's 25km Individual Time Trial (ITT), the first gold medal at stake at 19th SEA Games here in October.

Cycling training chief Didi Sudijanto, said yesterday that Indonesia will rely on Yogyakarta's Nurhayati, the country's leading woman rider, who won a gold in the 1993 Games in Singapore and a silver in the 1995 Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and her younger sister Nuraini, the 1995 SEA Games bronze medalist.

"We are ready to win the first SEA Games gold," Didi said.

Nurhayati lost to Chaleam Chamchun of Thailand in 1995 because, Didi said, "we suspected the host cheated."

"This year, we are optimistic that Nurhayati and Nuraini will win the gold and silver in the event," Didi said.

The association also expects to win at least eight of the 16 cycling gold medals.

Didi said that national cyclists will be able to make a clean sweep from the mountain bike races -- men's and women's cross country and men's and women's downhill -- which are being contested for the first time at the Games,.

"Technically our cyclists are still behind Japan, South Korea, China and Chinese Taipei but we're number one in Southeast Asia," he boasted.

Indonesia also has high expectations in the men's sprint, men's 1,000 meter ITT, 4,000m team pursuit and the women's 3,000m individual pursuit.

However, the association is optimistic that its cyclists will be win three more events - the men's 50km ITT, 170km Individual Road Race and the women's 70km Individual Road Race.

Hockey

In it efforts to perform better in field hockey, the Indonesian Field Hockey Association has contracted two coaches from Pakistan; Nasir Ali and Chaudary Tanwir Arsyad.

They said yesterday at the hockey training center in Lampung that Indonesian athletes have improved their physical and technical skills.

Ali, who guided the Pakistan national team to two Olympic golds, said that the training center, which is located in a plantation owned by the association's chairman Rajkumar Singh, is a suitable place for coaching athletes.

Antara reported that all athletes, despite some fasting, were still practicing yesterday afternoon.

The SEA Games training director Djoko Pramono, on a visit to the center, encouraged the athletes to keep up their fighting spirit during practice.

The national hockey team initially planned to go to Australia in May and to India and Pakistan in July and August for overseas training.

But Singh said that the association has plans to sign two other foreign coaches, and to cancel the plan to go abroad. (yan)