Fighters plan to take gold in PON

SEMARANG (JP): The team manager of Central Java pencak silat team, Brawijaya, expressed his optimism that his fighters can earn three gold medals in the 15th National Games (PON) in Surabaya, East Java.

He said that three of his nine fighters -- Rony Syaifullah, Haris Nugroho and Nur Iskak -- who currently attend the training center in Surakarta, can win golds because they had fought in the 1999 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei Darussalam.

"We hope the fighters can retain the two gold medals they earned during the 1996 PON. Hopefully, they can get three golds," he said.

He said the fighters would also meet tough challenges from other provinces.

"Although Central Java won six gold medals in the pre- qualifying round, we will likely face tough challenges from East Java and Bali fighters," he said. (har)