Indonesia to send synchronized divers to train in China
JAKARTA (JP): With the new event of synchronized diving to be featured at the 2001 Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, the Indonesian Swimming Federation (PRSI) plans to send athletes to train in China next year.
Coach Harly Ramayani told reporters on Tuesday, after attending a meeting with the National Sports Council (KONI), that the federation stressed the need of overseas training for the new event as Indonesia does not yet have the equipment.
"Synchronized diving needs double towers which we can't provide right now. Therefore, we aim to send them to China for training to improve their performance prior to the Games," said Harly, who is also PRSI deputy in charge of the diving committee.
Harly said four athletes were being groomed for the new event. They are Nany Suryani and Eka Purnama Indah in the women's side and Nasrullah and Husaini Nur in the men's side.
Another eight athletes were under intensive training for other diving events.
"Some of the divers are newcomers. PRSI has called young divers Denis Harimukti and Treviani Dias of East Java to join the centralized training."
"The reason for staging the centralized training in Senayan is because it is the only good diving facility in Indonesia," she said.
Harly declined to comment on the PRSI target in diving for the Games.
"I can only talk about our chances after we have the core team in June. We will only have eight divers including the synchronized divers. You'll have to wait until then," she said.
"But I can say that our divers will face tough competition from Malaysian divers who have equal skills. They have the advantage of being coached by five Chinese coaches. Divers from Thailand and the Philippines are also a threat."
Separately, the Indonesian Basketball Association (Perbasi) executive director, Sri Sudono Sumarto, said that they would use a different approach to set the national team.
"We don't have to set up centralized training while the players are playing for their respective clubs during the Indonesian Basketball League (Kobatama). The league is a good training ground for them," he said.
"The players can be selected based on their performance during the league. Then we will we conduct the centralized training."
Sudono admitted that there were difficulties in arranging the schedules between the league's competition schedule and the national team training programs.
Meanwhile, David Sitorus of the Indonesian Bowling Association (PBI) told The Jakarta Post that 30 bowlers are being prepared in a current decentralized training phase for the SEA Games.
"The bowlers are from East Kalimantan, Jakarta, Riau, South Sumatra, West Java, and West Sumatra. They have been training in their own provinces since May," he said over the phone.
"We'll have a selection in January or February to start the centralized phase. The final team will consist of six bowlers each in the men's and women's division."
"There will be an equal composition. It would be better if we could have an all-junior team for the purpose of regeneration. The junior bowlers would then be able to compete with their seniors."
Speaking about the target, David said Indonesia aimed at achieving two gold medals out of 12 events. The medals are expected from the men's team-of-five and women's single events. Other events are doubles, trios, all-event and masters events.
"Our main contender is Malaysia which is at its height nowadays. Singapore can also pose a threat. On the other hand, the Philippines' bowlers are declining," he said. (nvn)