Indonesia to rely on foil and epee events

JAKARTA (JP): The men's and women's epee and foil events are expected to be Indonesia's best hopes of winning laurels at the Asian Fencing Championships scheduled for Aug. 10 - 14 here.

Eman Sumusi, vice secretary of the Indonesian Fencing Association, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that Indonesia will field 39 athletes, all under-17s or under-20s, in the championships.

"They will take part in 10 events, five in the cadet category and five in the junior category," he said.

Fifteen of the 21 members of the Asian Fencing Confederation have confirmed their participation in the championships. They are Japan, Malaysia, Iran, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, China Taipei, Kuwait, South Korea, the Philippines, India, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan and Indonesia.

More than 200 athletes will compete in the championships, which will feature men's and women's individual epee, foil and saber events.

Eman said that the Chinese and South Korean athletes will be the toughest rivals at the championships.

"But we have prepared our athletes since April. So we hope they will be able to achieve something," he said.

The young athletes are undergoing long-term training and hope to join the national squad in the upcoming Southeast Asian Games here next year.

The athletes have undertaken a centralized training program in Bandung since July and are now making their final preparations for the championships at the Century Park Hotel.

"This is the best moment for the rookies to take part in an international event for the first time," Eman said.

The championships, which will be staged at the Senayan Indoor Tennis Stadium, will be officially opened by State Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman on Aug. 10.

Chairman of the association H Widarsadipradja said earlier that Indonesia will also host the Asian Fencing Confederation congress in conjunction with the championships. (yan)