Indonesia eyes gold medal in world tae kwon do meet
Indonesia eyes gold medal in world tae kwon do meet
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia hopes to win a gold medal through
Alfons Lung at the tae kwon do world championships, which start
today in Manila, the Philippines, and run until Nov. 21.
But the 1994 Asian Games silver medalist told The Jakarta Post
yesterday that a bronze medal would suffice because he was not
fully recovered from an arm injury he suffered at the 1994 Asian
Games in Hiroshima.
"I have not had enough preparation. I began to train eight
hours a day for the championships just four weeks ago," the
featherweight said. In Manila, he expects the toughest
competitors to be from Latin America, Egypt and the United
States.
A total of 83 teams are expected to compete in the
championships. Tae kwon do, a Korean martial art, will make its
Olympic debut in Atlanta next year.
Lung, who has been under the tutelage of South Korean coach Oh
Il-nam since 1989, was ousted in the qualifying round of the 1993
world championships in New York, the United States.
The fifth-semester management student said he opted out of the
upcoming 18th Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand,
because he wants to concentrate on his studies.
Lung is among eight tae kwon do athletes, five of whom are
males and the other three females, who went yesterday to Manila
to take part in the biannual championships. Lung's male teammates
are Bodhi Saputra (pinweight), Ade Yudha Lubis (flyweight), Eko
(bantamweight) and Iwan Gunadi (lightweight).
His female teammates include pinweight Andriani Tri Asmara,
the silver medalist of the Vietnam Open tae kwon do championship,
which was held from July 21 to July 23 in Hanoi.
Weight lifting
Indonesia is also taking part at the World Weight lifting
Championships in Guangzhou, China, which start today and runs
until Nov. 26.
Supandi and Rusli (both weigh 54 kg), Zulkarnaen (49 kg),
Catur Maesfudi (70 kg) and Asep Rahmat (76 kg) form the national
weight lifting team, in place of lifters who will represent
Indonesia in 18th Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand
next month. All five muscle men have failed selection tests for
the games.
The Guangzhou championships will serve as a qualifying round
for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. A lifter needs to finish
between 17th and 25th in each category to secure an Olympic
berth.
"I did not risk sending my SEA Games lifters to Guangzhou,
because a lifter needs at least three months rest after a
competition," Madek Kasman, training director of the Indonesian
Weight lifting and Power lifting Association, said. (arf/amd)