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

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)