Hockey team aims for silver despite internal disputes

By Ivy Susanti

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian hockey team's preparation for the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei Darussalam has been marred by controversy, with bitter disputes arising over training partners and venues.

The controversy started when the Indonesian Hockey Association (PHSI) failed to summon its 39 male and 33 female athletes to join the centralized training program early this year.

Training only began in June after PHSI was repeatedly cautioned by the National Sports Council (KONI), which questioned whether the association wished to perform at the biennial event to be held from Aug. 7 to Aug. 15.

The late start had led to speculation that PHSI was incapable of preparing teams for the Games due to internal conflicts between PHSI and its Jakarta chapter.

But PHSI chairman Primadi Tabrani said Indonesia would try to win the bronze medal, in a rerun of the men's team performance here two years ago.

"We want our men's and women's team to finish in the top three, but we hope for a silver medal in the men's event and we hope the women will match that," he said last May, prior to his inauguration as PHSI chairman for the 1999 to 2003 term.

Indonesia's men's team finished third behind Malaysia and Singapore in 1997, with the women's team failing to finish in the top three.

KONI subsequently intervened to cut the number of players to 18 men and 18 women, and refused to provide funds for those who failed to join the nucleus teams. PHSI officials had also promised to solve its internal conflict, which has hindered training preparations.

The dispute, however, continued with PHSI claiming its team was prohibited from using the Rp 1 billion (US$147,000) synthetic field at the Senayan sports complex. It accused the Jakarta chapter, which had earlier rented the field from the Gelora Senayan executive directors, as responsible for the move.

KONI's official in charge of athlete development Mochammad Hindarto said the team had not been barred from practicing on the field.

"The team should arrange a schedule for using the field, because there are some local clubs who use (it)," he said.

PHSI was also under fire for refusing to stage a warm-up against a local team, especially the Jakarta chapter, saying local teams' technical skills were below the national team's standard. It had urged KONI to approve an overseas training proposal.

In early July PHSI decided to expel its women's team, because 12 of them had trained poorly during the preparations.

PHSI failed to send its men's team to compete in the Tun Abdul Razak Cup in Selangor, Malaysia, from July 9 to July 15, as it failed to meet the registration deadline.

PHSI was able, however, to send the team to Malaysia on July 19 for tryouts with local clubs.

"This is a good opportunity for our team, because we rarely have joint practice sessions. We all know that the Malaysian hockey team has an international reputation," said the hockey team manager, Primadi.

He said that although the national team could not beat the world-class Malaysian hockey team, it could develop a strategy to beat Singapore at the SEA Games.

"If we can beat the Singaporeans, the silver medal is certainly in our hands," he said.

Hockey team lineup: Melkianus Christian Mamoribo, Edwin Aldrin Mamoribo, Elexi, Ibrahim, Iwan Riswanto, Johannes Parera, Kana Badhi, Lawen, Kundan Singh, Raja, Rajesh Prettypal Singh, Ramu, Rikoh Rinanda Sasiang, Ronald Evans Kadiwaru, Sarbjit Singh, Surinder Singh, Suyatno, Wahyudi