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)