Indonesia eyes two golds in bowling at SEA Games
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Bowling Association has set a target of two gold medals at the 18th Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, even though the National Sports Council has projected that the bowling team will win only one.
"We have better chance of winning in the men's and women's quintet events in particular. But our men's singles are also quite promising. I think it's reasonable enough to target two gold medals," head coach Jimmy Liem said over the weekend.
It is true that, so far, Indonesia has never captured more than one gold medal from the SEA Games' bowling competitions. Yet, Indonesia's chance of winning in all bowling events is by no means less than that of host Thailand or the other Southeast Asian rivals, he added.
Jimmy was speaking to reporters during a visit of the sports council chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar to the bowling association's centralized training center in Ancol, North Jakarta.
His optimism is based on the assumption that bowlers who notch average points of more 200 stand the biggest chance of nailing victories at the Games and that many Indonesian bowlers have already attained those averages.
David Sitorus, one of the association's bowlers who is training at the association's training center, has collected an average of 210, while the 1993 SEA Games men's singles gold medalist scored 216 on average.
Competitors
Host Thailand, Jimmy said, has very strong bowlers in the men's and women's triple events, while Malaysia and the Philippines would be strong in the singles, duet or all events.
Oke F. Supit, the association's chairman, said he would announce the SEA Games-bound national team lineup on Oct. 16, shortly after evaluating the results of the National Bowling Championships.
"Twenty bowlers are undergoing a series of rigorous stints at the training center now. But the team for the Games will consist of only 12 bowlers," he added.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Sepak Takraw Association has set itself the modest target of just "making some improvements." It won only a bronze medal at the last SEA Games in Singapore two years ago.
"We are grooming 18 athletes, who will be shortlisted to 12 for the Chiang Mai SEA Games," said Muslim Denny, the association's deputy secretary.
The athletes will have a series of tryouts in Malaysia, including the Piala Isa Sepak Takraw Championships, slated for Oct. 26 to Oct. 29 in Seremban, as well as some other events in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. (arf)