Indonesia Olympic archery team named
Indonesia Olympic archery team named
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Archery Association announced yesterday that Nurfitriyana Lantang and sisters Dahliana and Hamdiah Damanhuri will comprise the Indonesian archery team in the Atlanta Olympic Games next month.
"Based on their records during the national training program, I place big hopes on them to earn a medal at the Olympics," Oetojo Oesman, chairman of the national archery body, said during a simulation match at the Senayan archery range yesterday.
The Olympic team completed their simulation with a 227-234 loss to the men's trio of Pranajaya, Ditto Rembrandt and Sumardi yesterday.
National coach Daniel Lumalesil said that his archers will keep their medal-winning chance open if they can managed to maintain the form they have shown during their training program.
Lumalesil predicted that the women's trio, who won Indonesia's sole bronze in the World Championships here last year, have to score at least 240 points to grab a medal.
Their highest score so far is 242. Dahliana carries the best record during the four-month training stint with 650. She is followed by Hamdiah, who managed 645 and Nurfitriyana, with 631.
The trio canceled their plan for two try-outs in the Atlanta Grand Prix in April and in an international tournament in Slovenia last month after Lumalesil learned about their exhausted state.
The association also called on Purnama Pandiangan for the Olympic selection. Purnama earned the country's first-ever Olympic medal, together with Nurfitriyana and Lilies Handayani.
But national coaches denied Purnama her Olympic place, saying that she failed to show progress and looked like she would need a long time to recover.
Indonesia qualified for the Olympics after grabbing a bronze medal at the World Championships last year.
Dahliana and Hamdiah, making their Olympic debut, pledged to do their best. The Olympic archery competition will take place at the Stone Mountain Park, about 25.6 kilometers from the Olympic Center in Atlanta.
Antara reported that both Dahliana and Hamdiah recently each received a US$2,000 bonus from East Kalimantan Governor HM Ardans for their commendable showing. (yan)