Indonesia fails at Ladies Cup
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian women karatekas participating in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games missed taking home any medals from the Ladies Cup Open Tournament in Tokyo over the weekend.
"The tournament's kumite (fighting) events were dominated by European karatekas. Even Japan only grabbed one gold. But I am not disappointed with the results," Indonesian Karate-Do Federation (Forki) official in charge of athlete development Ahmad Budu told The Jakarta Post over the phone from Tokyo.
"Our karatekas have yet to enter the technical session so they could not do much in kumite. But they did show good physical strength and stamina."
The federation sent eight karatekas to the event on July 14 and July 15 to evaluate their preparation for the Kuala Lumpur 2001 SEA Games. The federation also sent 11 men karatekas for training sessions with three karate schools.
In kata (the arts), the team had to improve its synchronized moves, he said.
"Actually, we had a chance to grab the bronze when the team performed the Ji-on routine. But one of the team members couldn't make the last swing in time. It was very obvious and it stunned the spectators," said Ahmad.
"Malaysia grabbed a bronze in the team event but I don't think they will pose a major threat as I am sure we can improve our performance, especially at our scheduled training sessions here, including with the Japanese national team."
The Indonesian karate squad is having training sessions with teams from the Tokyo Daigaku University, the Shotokan Karate International Federation (SKIF) and the Japan Karate Association (JKA).
Ahmad also said Malaysia had been a serious contender in the under-60 kilogram kumite event while Vietnam was dangerous in the free class event.
"They did not get any medals there but it could be another story at the SEA Games. We have got to work harder even though we still dominate in the other events," he said.
The federation is aiming to capture five to seven golds from 19 events at the Sept. 8 to Sept. 17 Games. (nvn)