Indonesia will send seven fencers to Thailand Open

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia, the undisputed fencing powerhouse in Southeast Asia, will send seven fencers to the Thailand Open from Aug. 16 to Aug. 20 as a testing ground to see whether the country will take part in the ultimate regional fencing contest during the 12th Asian Games in Hiroshima in October.

"We expect our fencers to come out in the top three during the event so that the National Sports Committee (KONI) can confirm its decision regarding our participation in the Asiad," national coach Soeratmin was quoted as saying by Antara here on Monday.

The Indonesian Fencing Association (Ikasi) has groomed seven fencers, all men, to take part in the saber and epee numbers in both the Thailand meet and the Asiad. They are: Didi Bolang, Bayu, Lucky Ramdani for saber and Henri Lenzum, Perdian Kuron, Rudi Setiawan and Chaidir for epee.

Ikasi previously planned to take part in the fencing world tournament in Greece last June, but this plan failed due to shortage of funds.

The Indonesian delegation has a better chance in the team events rather than the singles, Soeritmin said.

"This is because we have less competitors in the team contests," he said.

He added that Indonesia has the potential to at least grab second place in the team saber number and third place for the team epee.

The Thailand Open will feature fencers from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Uzbekistan. (hdj)