Fencing, archery bodies prepare for the 13th Asiad

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Fencing Association and the Indonesian Archery Association have already begun preparing for the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok next December.

The fencing association's secretary-general, Soerjono, said yesterday that Indonesia's men's and women's epee teams would probably represent the country in the quadrennial event.

"Based on the evaluation made by the National Sports Council yesterday, we can also send Fabiola Tirza Paulany Ratu in the individual women's foil," he said.

In the 19th SEA Games, Indonesia made a clean sweep of four golds in the men's and women's team and individual epee events. Paulany also won the gold in her discipline.

"Our target was six golds but we only won five," he said.

The council has recommended the country fields athletes in 16 sports in the Asiad. They are archery, badminton, beach volleyball, boxing, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, judo, karate, rowing, surfing, swimming, tae kwon do, tennis, track and field and weight lifting.

Soerjono said the association would improve the athletes' technique so they reach their peak in time for the event.

However, he declined to say whether Indonesian fencers could reach the top eight in the Games.

"We're facing tough challenges from China, South Korea and Kazakhstan. I don't want to speak about the association's target," he said.

Indonesia won a silver medal in the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing courtesy of Silvia Kristina Koeswandi in the women's individual epee.

The association plans to hire foreign coach based on recommendations from the International Fencing Federation.

The council plans to stage a 10-month decentralized training program, which may be financed by each sports organization, and a three-month centralized training scheme, which will be financed by the council.

Soerjono said that to stage a decentralized program, the association would still rely on its patron, PT Argo Pantes.

"The company financed some of our training and tryout programs for the SEA Games. The council paid Rp 1 billion (US$303,030) while the association paid Rp 500 million of the budget," he said.

The association is expected to prepare nine athletes and one substitute for the training.

It will use the SEA Fencing Championship next June in Indonesia as one of its main warm-up events.

The archery association is to hire a Korean coach, Lee Jae- hyung, claimed to be the second best in South Korea, to prepare the national archers for the Asiad.

The association's vice chairman, Harmidy Haroen, said that a foreign coach was needed to handle national-level archers.

"They are very close to local coaches which makes them spoilt. By inviting a foreign coach, we expect them to be more disciplined. Lee will also help our coach improve their technical skills and fighting spirit," he said.

The association's secretary-general, Udi Harsono, blamed the SEA Games failure, where Indonesia won only two golds, on the archers' poor physical condition and lack of warmup competitions.

"We've taken on board the recommendation from the council to improve the athletes' physical condition. But even though they have reached their peak, their condition were not good enough to compete in the Olympic round," he said.

"The council's psychologist also said that the athletes needed to improve their mental condition by having more tryouts," he added.

The association will establish a special team to set its own standard, both physical and mental, as a preparation for the Asiad.

Harmidy said the ASEAN Archery Federation will set up a competition circuit, which has been approved by Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

"Next year, we'll have three circuits in the region and will invite athletes from outside the region, including Australia, to help ours increase their fighting spirit," he said.

The association will send Dito Rembrandt, Wahyu Hidayat and Yulianto in the men's team and Yuliasih, Lucia Elisabeth Sampouw, Dwi Purwanti and Suhartini in the women's team to the Asian Championship in Langkawi, Malaysia, from Nov. 20 to Nov. 25. (yan)