Indonesia wins bronze at world archery c'ships
JAKARTA (JP): With a bronze medal, Indonesia stood proudly among the handiest with a bow and arrow at the end of the 38th World Outdoor Target Archery Championships yesterday.
The gold medal went to pre-tournament favorite South Korea and the silver medal to Turkey.
The bronze medal, which assures a berth to the archery tournament of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, was won by a trio of Hamdiah, Dahliana and Nurfitryana who beat Germany 219- 215 in the playoff.
The Indonesian women's team now need not feel ashamed in the presence of South Korea, winner of the men's and women's Olympic division team events and the men's individual event.
Nor is it necessary for them to feel inferior to the United States, winner of the women's compound division team event, or France, winner of the men's compound division team event.
The world championships at Jakarta's ABC field in Senayan, which was officially concluded by Vice President Try Sutrisno yesterday, is the first world championships ever to contest the compound bow division, which was introduced in 1968 by the United States. This biannual meet also boasted the largest number of participants ever, with 373 archers from 56 countries.
"I congratulate your women's team," South Korean head coach Lee Ki-sik told Indonesian reporters. He went on to say that Indonesia's win did not surprise him at all. "Good luck and bad luck is always there. Our team has our luck, and so has yours. Moreover, shooting in the individual event is different from shooting in the team event."
Yet, Indonesia's victory surprised many, including Turkish head coach Mario Codispoti who told The Jakarta Post, "It's a surprise to see that your women's team won the bronze medal. They must have been very well prepared."
Indonesia women's team of Dahliana, Rusena Gelanteh and Purnama Pandiangan shocked the favored Korean squad 237-236 in the semifinals of the 12th Asian Games in Hiroshima last year.
In the women's individual event on Friday, Hamdiah, Dahliana and Nurfitriana finished 42nd, 43rd and 62nd respectively.
Relaxed
Dahliana, Nurfitriana and Hamdiah said they felt much more relaxed competing as a team rather than shooting individually, which explained why their individual performances were poor. They also said they were not burdened with the ambition of winning against South Korea, which "is obviously much better than us."
Moreover, "time duration of the team event is shorter than the individual event because more arrows have to be shot in the individual event. It was the longer time which gave birth to many thoughts which racked my mind," Hamdiah told the Post.
Commenting on his teams' victories, Lee Ki-sik said "it was a great success. Three gold medals is enough for us, especially given that our team is made up of junior archers who haven't had any experience at the world championships before."
Ki-sik added that his men's team is now stronger than the women's team because competition among Korean archers was so intense that even the men were motivated to show that they were better than their female counterparts.
Andrea Parenti of Italy, whose team came second to the South Korean men's team, was optimistic his team would still have a chance to beat the Koreans at another occasion, apparently at the Atlanta Olympics. The 1988 world field champion said of his team's 243-255 final loss to the Koreans: "The battle was not very hard. We just happened to be less ready than them."
At yesterday's closing ceremony, the participating countries marched on with neither their flags nor their country names. President of the World Archery Body FITA, James L. Easton, in his closing message reminded each participant of the Olympic spirit which knows no racial, political, cultural nor religious barriers. "The next world championships will be held in Victoria, Canada. All member countries are welcome," Easton concluded. (arf)
Medal's tally
Country G S B
-----------------------------
1. The United States 3 2 2
2. South Korea 3 - -
3. France 1 - -
4. Moldova 1 - -
5. Italy - 1 -
6. Turkey - 1 -
7. Germany - 1 -
8. Chinese Taipei - 2 -
9. Sweden - - 2 10. Australia - - 2 11. Indonesia - - 1