Five Indonesia's tae kwon doins vie in World Championships
Five Indonesia's tae kwon doins vie in World Championships
JAKARTA (JP): Five national tae kwon doins who are being
prepared for the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games are competing
in the World Championships in Canada.
Pino Indra Perdana, Derry Dermansyah and Satrio Rahardani will
compete on the men's side while Juana Wangsa Putri and Sinta
Berliana Heru are to fight on the women's side.
Three of the five athletes -- Satrio, Juana and Sinta -- won
medals at the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok last year. Satrio won
the silver the other two won bronzes.
The Indonesian Tae kwondo Association (PBTI) secretary-
general, Zarkasih Hamid, said on Monday that the championships,
taking place from June 2 to June 7, would serve as a warmup
before the five tae kwon doins compete in the pre-Olympics
qualification.
All tae kwon doins have been trained in South Korea since
April and are expected to perform their best in Canada.
"We haven't given them any target in the World Championships,
but we expect them to perform their best based on their overseas
stint results. The championships are the best event to warmup in
before the pre-Olympics qualification," said Zarkasih, who is
accompanying the athletes at the championships.
Zarkasih said most countries that are strong in the sport
would send their athletes to the championships including the
original country of tae kwon do, South Korea.
"This is the perfect moment for our athletes to measure the
strength of the Koreans," he said, as quoted by Media Indonesia.
The athletes will compete in the pre-Olympics qualification
first stage in Zagreb from July 11 to July 18 and the second
stage in Manila on Sept. 25 and Sept. 26. Tae kwon do will be
featured for the first time in the Olympics in September next
year in Sydney.
Another 18 national tae kwon doins have been groomed for the
SEA Games in Wiradharma Hall in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta,
under the supervision of South Korean coach Oh Il-nam.
Indonesia will send 16 athletes comprising eight men's and
eight women's tae kwon doins to the biennial event in Brunei
Darussalam from Aug. 7 to Aug. 15. (yan)