Hammer girl set for four-spin tuneup at Singapore Open ahead of Asiad
Hammer girl set for four-spin tuneup at Singapore Open ahead of Asiad
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
National hammer thrower and Asiad medal hopeful, Yurita Ariany is
slated to compete in the Singapore Open track and field meet
next week, and will also be her final tuneup ahead of the 2002
Asian Games in Busan, South Korea.
The Singapore Open will run for three days from Sept. 7 to 9,
while the multi-event Asian Games, to which Indonesia will be
taking only 100 athletes to compete in 20 sporting disciplines,
is scheduled to start on Sept. 29 for a two-week competition.
Yurita is going to use the Singapore Open as a live dress
rehearsal using her new throwing technique which includes four
revolutions, instead of three, before the release of the hammer.
"Being the first competition for me to use the four-spin
method, the meet is expected to give me an assessment about how
much progress I've made since my serious training began in
January," Yurita told The Jakarta Post before a workout at Madya
Stadium here on Friday.
In her former three-spin method, Yurita chalked up a personal
best and national record of 53.26 meters at a local competition
here in July.
The mark also showed improvement relative to other outings
this year. After managing only 49.89 meters in Thailand in May,
she improved slightly to 50.89 meters in Taiwan in June.
Yurita said that the new technique, if she can master it,
would increase her throws by at least three meters. "Once during
my practice this week, I hit 54 meters," she said casually, even
though it was an unofficial national record.
"I don't feel smooth yet. I still need time to finely tune it
before I am really prepared for the four-spin throw, hopefully by
next month," she said.
Given the Asian Championship results in Colombo, Sri Lanka,
last month, Yurita will have to improve by at least four meters
to stand a realistic chance of contending for a medal in Busan.
"The bronze medalist in Colombo threw it 57 meters. I'm
confident I will go that far," she said.
Her trainer Muksin said what his protege would have to polish
up further on her timing of pull and spinning in the release of
the hammer.
"Within one month to go to the Asian Games, I hope that she
will perfect her throws. She already has built her speed and
power but she needs get her timing perfect too," Muksin said,
mentioning China and India as two strong contenders.
Yurita is one of the three track and field hopefuls for Busan.
The other two are marathoner I Gede Karang Asem and pole vaulter
Ni Putu Desy Margawati, the bronze medalist in Colombo.