Indonesia has hopes for 19 golds
Indonesia has hopes for 19 golds
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Based on a medal assessment conducted by sport organizations,
Indonesia has a good chance at winning between 18 and 19 gold
medals at the 2002 Asian Games, a national training director has
said.
"Given our evaluation of the athletes' progress during
training, we have a good chance at winning between 18 and 19
golds. That means we would surpass President Megawati's
expectations," Imron ZS told Antara on Monday.
He was referring to the President's meeting with the athletes
in July, when Megawati announced that she expected Indonesia to
bring home 15 golds from the Asian Games, which will run in
Busan, South Korea, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 14.
Indonesia grabbed six golds to finish in eleventh place among
42 participating countries at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.
The National Sports Council (KONI), which is responsible for
the athletes' preparations, has decided to send 100 athletes to
compete in the 20 sporting events in Busan.
Imron refused to mention the sports in which the team would
probably be winning medals.
"I can't mention them as that would affect the athletes," he
said.
Imron said if he specified the sport or events at which
athletes stood a good chance at securing a medal, then the
participants might suffer from psychological pressure.
"On the other hand, if athletes are said to have less than
good medal prospects, they may lose their drive to win," he said.
"This affects athletes' mentality," he added.
Taking into consideration the country's past medal record at
the Asian Games and the level of competition it will face in the
next round of games, Indonesia can expect golds from badminton,
cycling, karate, rowing, weight-lifting and yachting.
Commenting on the results of the recently concluded Indonesia
Open badminton championship, which witnessed a number of national
training members flop in their campaign, Imron said that he was
still confident about their prospects in Busan.
The home side took two of the five gold medals up for grabs
through Taufik Hidayat in the men's singles and Bambang
Suprianto/Minarti Timur in the mixed doubles.
The most deplorable miss at the Surabaya meet, which was the
final tryout prior to the athletes' trip to Busan, was the defeat
of the world's number one pair of Candra Wijaya and Sigit
Budiarto.
But Imron brushed aside assumptions that the failure might
carry on to Busan, saying that they would need to readapt to each
other after having been apart for some time.
"I'm convinced that they remain the world's best and have a
very good prospect at winning the gold medal at the Asian Games,"
he said.