European trials for RI's Asiad judoists

JAKARTA (JP): Some sports associations may be canceling or postponing plans to send their athletes abroad due to financial worries, but this is not the case for the Indonesian Judo Association.

Three of the nation's best hopes are to go to Europe in August as part of their preparation for the Asian Games in Bangkok this December. They are Aprilia Marzuki (63 kilograms), Praptiningsih (52kg) and Krisna Bayu (90kg). They will attend competitions in Germany, France and the Netherlands.

The three judoists are expected to capture at least a silver medal in the Asian Games.

Aji Sumantri, the association's secretary, said Monday that the purpose of the European trip was to evaluate the athletes' form.

"We want to see how they perform against judoists from Germany, France and the Netherlands. Our judoists will be able to use this opportunity to exchange views with them and learn their techniques," Aji said, as quoted by Antara.

Aji also said that before the trials the judoists would undergo a physical training stint in South Korea from May to July.

The physical training is a follow-up to their training in Ciloto, West Java in December, Aji said.

Referring to the Bangkok Games, Aji said Indonesia's toughest rivals would be South Korea, Japan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazahstan.

"The five countries have good judoists so we have to be aware of them," Aji said.

As to the local judoists' coach for the Asian Games, Aji said the association was still relying on Putu Arnika.

"We are still using a local coach because first Putu is capable of handling the judoists and second we cannot afford a foreign coach considering the existing monetary crisis," Aji said.

Aji, however, said the association was planning to hire a technical advisor from South Korea. "There are two candidates for this position. Only one will be used. We will use the technical advisor for the trial matches overseas." (lnt)