Indonesia Open track and field c'ship to start July 27

JAKARTA (JP): This year's Indonesia Open track and field championships will be held at its usual venue, the Senayan Madya stadium, from July 27 to 30.

In addition to 307 athletes who will come from Indonesia's 27 provinces, athletes from Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Singapore, Myanmar and Malaysia will also take part, chief organizer Chaidir confirmed on Monday.

However, the annual meet, which will feature 43 events, is one month behind schedule due to extensive renovation of the stadium which started in April and has not been completed yet.

Test

Chaidir said the open championships will serve as a good tool to test the stadium's readiness to accommodate the Asian Championships, scheduled for Sept. 20 to 24.

For Indonesian athletes, Chaidir added, the championships serve as a qualifying round for both the Asian Championships and the 18th Southeast Asian Games.

The 18th SEA Games are slated for Dec. 9 to 17 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The Indonesian Track and Field Association has groomed 40 national athletes in a centralized training center here.

However, the association's head of training department Pieter Noya said that being called up for the centralized training program alone is by no means a passport to the upcoming SEA Games.

Noya said that to qualify for competing at the SEA Games, the 40 athletes as well as those who train outside the centralized training center must prove that they can perform consistently and commendably at other Southeast Asian's track and field meets, such as the Malaysia Open (Aug. 18 to 20) in Penang and the Singapore Open (Sept. 3 to 5).

Noya added that during the SEA Games, Indonesia will be eying 11 gold medals from, among others, the men's long jump, the men's and women's javelin throw, marathon, heptathlon, decathlon, the men's triple jump, the men's 100m and 200m and the women's 10,000m. (arf)