Indonesia to send four women to Asian Shooting C'ships
Indonesia to send four women to Asian Shooting C'ships
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Shooting and Hunting Association
(Perbakin) will send four women shooters to compete in the Asian
Shooting Championships in Langkawi, Malaysia, next week.
The association official in charge of target shooting, Sita
Razni, said on Tuesday the goal was for its athletes to improve
the national records.
"The national record for the air rifle is 393 by Suparni. We
hope she can narrow the gap between her personal best and the
world record of 399 by a Chinese shooter," she said.
"We also hope Bari Agustini can improve her best of 572 in the
sports pistol in the championships."
Suparni set her record in the national interclub championships
in Palembang, South Sumatra, in September while Bari earned her
best in the Kapolri (National Police Chief) Cup Championships in
Jakarta in August.
Suparni, Gusti Ayu Indradewi and Yuniarti will compete in the
individual and team air rifle match events while Bari will
perform in air pistol and sports pistol.
Sita said China and former Soviet confederation countries
would be tough rivals in the championships.
"In the Southeast Asia region, we can say we have fewer
rivals. But the Chinese shooter holds the world record while ex-
Soviet confederation athletes are also good. We are not aiming
for medals but we want them to know how good we are compared to
those countries' athletes," she said after a meeting with
National Sports Council (KONI) chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar, the
Olympics and Southeast Asian Games training director Arie Sudewo
and other KONI officials.
During the meeting, Sita complained about the high price of
weapons and bullets for long-term training.
"We have requested a cut in the import tax from the Ministry
of Finance, but they turned down our request because they still
consider shooting to be a luxury sport. It's a classic problem
but we have difficulties to overcome it. It's difficult to
provide new weapons and bullets for training and competition as
they are very expensive," she said.
Wismoyo said KONI would set up a special team to meet finance
minister Bambang Sudibyo and the director general of tax Anshari
Ritonga.
"Hopefully, we can urge the ministry to excise tax for the
sake of national sports development. With a lower price of sports
equipment, it will be easier for sports organizations to hold
training for national athletes," he said. (yan)