Indonesia vies for gold in men's indoor v'ball

Indonesia vies for gold in men's indoor v'ball

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After a demoralizing run in 2001, the Indonesian men's indoor
volleyball team is seeking a big leap when it competes in the
upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Vietnam.

"We will be striving for gold with the men's team, while the
women will be in the bronze hunt," Mahfud Irsyada, an assistant
coach, said during a press conference here on Tuesday.

The team failed to win a medal in Kuala Lumpur in 2001, which
marked Indonesia's first failure in volleyball in the history of
the games.

Mahfud said that the team's optimism for their Vietnam
campaign stemmed from the return of Loudry Maspaitella, who had
played a pivotal role during the team's winning run but who was
absent from the 2001 squad.

"Loudry is expected to lift the team's performance," he said.

The women's team also flopped in the medal hunt in Kuala
Lumpur, but that was expected given their mediocre performances
in the region.

However, Fenny Jumiati and teammates are looking to go a step
better as they will be heading to Vietnam for a bronze after the
team carried out a two-week outing in China.

"The Chinese outing has given us confidence. We are not wary
anymore about making mistakes. I'm confident about bronze. I dare
to say this because the team has been well-established," Fenny,
the only player present at the media conference, said.

Indonesia will send 12 players for each team to Vietnam.

The men's squad is still playing in China which is a two-week
long outing.

The Vietnam SEA Games will run from Dec. 5 to 14.

Meanwhile, Djohar Arifin Husein, the secretary general of the
Indonesian Sports Council (KONI), said that the soccer and water
polo teams would be Indonesia's first groups to head to Vietnam,
on Nov. 27.

"Soccer and water polo will have to begin their competition
before the opening ceremony," he said as quoted by Antara.

Djohar said that rest of the squad would depart on Dec. 2.

Indonesia, with 852 SEA members, will compete in 29 of 32
events.