Eddy, Sakeh secure places in RI team for SEA Games

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Eddy Zakaria and Ahmad Sumarsono Sakeh have been cleared to go to the 2005 Southeast Asia (SEA) Games after passing final screening, according to an official of the Indonesian Athletics Association (PASI).

However, of the two, PASI is only pinning medal hopes on Sakeh.

The 110-meter hurdler Eddy and 200-meter/400-meter runner Sakeh had been facing removal from the SEA Games team due to poor performance and injury, respectively.

PASI secretary general Tigor Tandjung said on Monday that Eddy, who represented Indonesia in the 2004 Olympic Games, would need full support in order to return to his impressive performance of last year.

"Eddy is going to the SEA Games, but he might not be able to win gold as his competitors have already achieved below the 14 seconds mark," he said.

Eddy notched his best time of 14.11 seconds at the Athens Olympics, but he has since failed to maintain the form.

"He has a psychological problem in getting back to form. He needs support," he said.

Sakeh underwent focused training in the 800 meters at the Dieter Baumann Camp in Stuttgart, Germany, early this year, with a view to enhancing his medal prospects at the 2006 Asian Games.

However, Tigor said that Sakeh, who has recovered from his injury, would not compete in the 800 meters at the SEA Games. Instead, he will push for a challenge in the 200 meters and 400 meters.

"According to Sakeh's coach, he has been trained to accelerate his speed so he will be able to compete for the gold medals in the 200 meters and the 400 meters," Tigor said.

"I think if he can maintain running around 46 seconds for the 400 meters, he will win gold at the SEA Games."

Sakeh clocked a time of 21.00 seconds and 46.74 seconds to win the 200-meter and the 400-meter gold medals respectively at last year's National Games.

PASI now has a list of 26 athletes for the SEA Games squad after removing seven athletes late September due to poor performance during the national training program.

The squad will participate in 21 events at the 2005 SEA Games, which will start on Nov. 27 and go through to Dec. 5, and where PASI will be looking to win up to seven gold medals.