Indonesia eyes two golds in President's Cup

Indonesia eyes two golds in President's Cup

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is aiming to take two gold medals in
the final of the 19th President's Cup international amateur
boxing tournament at the Grand Bali Beach hotel at Sanur, Bali,
on Thursday night.

However, the three Indonesian boxers who earned the final
berths will have to fight hard to overcome Mexico, who also
qualified three boxers to the final round.

Both countries have so far collected 15 points after 16 bouts
of competition.

Indonesia will rely on Juan Saparipan in the bantamweight
class, Bonix Saweho in the finweight class and Albert Papilaya in
the heavyweight division to collect the gold.

Juan will challenge Japanese boxer Yuji Kimura, Bonix is to
meet B. Wicjramasinghe of Sri Lanka and Albert will fight
Hosseini R. of Iran.

Juan's coach, John Amanapunyo, expressed his optimism that
Indonesia would outshine Mexico in the final.

"I'm optimistic that Juan can win the tournament because his
rival is not as strong as we thought," he was quoted by
satusports.com as saying.

"However, winning the gold is not the only target. I also hope
they can win the best boxer award."

Juan shared John's optimism. "I have physically prepared for
the final bout. This is a life and death game," he said.

As a senior boxer, Albert said he was not terrified to meet
Hosseini on Thursday.

"I must win the gold because I have to set a good example for
my juniors and show that I can still achieve my best at my age,"
the 33-year-old boxer told the sports website.

Albert made his way to the final after a narrow 14-12 victory
over Mahdi Kalani of Syria. Juan goes to the final after
defeating Australian Justin Kane 27-16 on Tuesday, at the same
time when Bonix beat Chanthasone Xayyaphone of Laos. (ivy)