Indonesia contingent upbeat on medal winning chances
Indonesia contingent upbeat on medal winning chances
JAKARTA (JP): An upbeat mood was all that filled the Grand
Hyatt last Friday when Indonesian sportsmen and women gathered
for the last time before departing for the Atlanta Olympic Games
on Monday.
Badminton queen Susi Susanti and her fiance Alan Budikusuma,
the gold medal couple from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, expressed
a guarded optimism on a historic repeat.
"It will be our best wedding present if we land our second
golds," said Alan, who will marry Susi next February.
Both shuttlers were fresh from playing with the triumphant
Thomas Cup and Uber Cup squads in Hong Kong recently.
Badminton is Indonesia's best medal hope in Atlanta. The 20
badminton players will hopefully come home with two gold medals.
The toughest competition in the men's doubles event seems to
be among the Indonesians. "The toughest opposition will come from
our own teammates," said Ricky Subagja, who will team up with
Rexy Mainaky.
"We have to watch out for Gunawan/Bambang Suprianto and
Antonius/Denny Kantono," said Ricky. An Olympic gold medal is the
only major title missing from Ricky's and Rexy's collection. They
won the last two All-England titles, the World Championships last
year, and have helped their country win the Thomas Cup trophy
twice.
Surprisingly, the world number one duo was defeated by their
juniors Ade Sutrisna and Chandra Wijaya in a recent simulation
match, but Ricky said it would not affect their Olympic campaign.
"Danes, Chinese and South Koreans are also the foes to watch,
but I think we can reach the final," Ricky said.
The women's archery team has been dubbed Indonesia's second
best medal hope for Atlanta. The team of Nurfitriyana Lantang,
Purnama Pandiangan and Lilies Handayani won a silver medal for
Indonesia at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
And now Nurfitriyana is back. She will team up with the
Danamhuri sisters, Dahliana and Hamdiah, to rewrite the teams
commendable feat eight years ago.
Down to earth
Chairman of the National Sports Council, Wismoyo Arismunandar
refused to put too much pressure on his team.
"No matter how far you go in Atlanta, I won't be disappointed.
I know that you will fight to the end," Wismoyo told the
athletes.
The 39 member Indonesian team will compete in 10 sports.
Indonesian table tennis players will need a miracle to win
Olympic gold. "Sending table tennis players to the Olympics is
very good because it gives our talented players a great lesson,"
women's table tennis player Rosy Dipoyanti said.
Rosy and her male partner Anton Suseno, who qualified for the
Olympics as the best Southeast Asian players, are making their
second appearance in the world's biggest sporting meet. In 1992,
Anton, Rosy and Ling Ling Agustin were Indonesia's table tennis
representatives.
Indonesia's sole Olympic marathon runner Ethel Hudson is
another athlete who is realistic about his chances.
"My target is just to sharpen my personal record," said Ethel,
who finished second with a time of 2:21.11 in the Southeast Asian
Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, last year.
He said that making the Olympic team was a big surprise. The
Indonesian Track and Field Association picked Ethel to replace
SEA Games champion Suyono who suffered an injury. (yan)