Indonesia may cut team to Hiroshima Asian games

JAKARTA (JP): Several national athletic bodies will voluntarily drop athletes who fail to make progress during their final training sessions prior to the 12th Asian Games in Hiroshima next month.

Executive chairman of the national governing sports body (KONI), Soeweno, said yesterday that a considerable number of boxers and cyclists will be omitted when the national contingent is announced tomorrow.

"We welcome any and all federations that alter their team lineups, and we have approved changes until Wednesday," said Soeweno. The Games organizers have set Sept. 2 as the deadline for countries to confirm their entry forms with the names of their athletes.

The organizers have long complained about the exceeding number of participants at the quadrennial event. As of Sept. 2, they received some 8,000 athletes and officials from 42 countries, 700 people more than they had expected.

KONI chairman Surono is scheduled to swear in the national squad in a ceremony tomorrow. He announced on Aug. 26 that the team would include 151 sportsmen and women who will compete in 23 gold medal events during the Oct. 2-16 Games.

Officials of the national amateur boxing body (Pertina) told Soeweno on Saturday that their original team of seven might be cut to only four or five.

"We will decide after our pugilists return from their training in Cuba," Pertina secretary general Didit Soedijoto said. Seven boxers, including Pino Bahari, middleweight gold medalist in the 1991 meet, are undergoing one month of overseas training in a bid to win two golds in October's Asiad.

Didit declined to name the probable sideliners, but did say that Pino and his younger brother featherweight Nemo had been assured of their places.

The national cycling body (ISSI) has also reduced its squad from 10 to only five, following the results of their final test at the end of August.

Last week, six riders were cut from the team. They were Deddy Resdian, Suwandra, Mohammad Nur, Teguh Eko Pambudi, Deddy Effendi and Yudi Febrianto. The fifth man on the team going to the games is recent newcomer Dadang Haris Purnomo.

Soeweno also hinted yesterday that KONI had covered its set budget of Rp 3 billion (US$1.38 million) used to finance the daily expenses of the athletes during the 14-day competitions.

However, Soeweno refused to go into details about the financial sources. KONI received checks worth Rp 1.6 billion ($738,000) from five businessmen last month.

The national team will leave for Hiroshima separately, starting Sept. 25. Indonesian shuttlers will be on the last embarkment on Oct. 4, three days before badminton competitions begin. (amd)