Indonesian archery team misses Asian target

Indonesian archery team misses Asian target

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia left the IX Asian Archery Championships in Bangkok empty-handed on Thursday, but kept its Olympic hopes alive.

The national men's trio of Hendra Setijawan, Syafrudin Mawi and Ditto Rembran had their dreams of making an Olympic debut in Atlanta dashed after crashing out to Chinese Taipei in their quarterfinal duel. The Taiwanese took the gold medal with a surprising 235-232 win over favorite South Korea.

Indonesia's losing streak continued as the World Championships bronze medalists Nurfitriyana Lantang, Hamdiah and Dahliana lost to unfavored Japan 215-225, also in the quarterfinals in the women's team event.

Nurfitriyana, whose team has secured a berth to Atlanta, said that although the outcome upset her, it would not affect her preparation for the Olympics.

"We do not have to win here because the tournament serves just as a warm-up for the real battle in Atlanta," Nurfitriyana was quoted by Suara Pembaruan as saying yesterday.

"We still have time to improve ourselves," she added. Nurfitriyana was one of the Indonesian trio who earned their country its first ever Olympic medal in Seoul in 1988 by winning a silver.

The Indonesian Archery Association expected its squad to win a gold medal and an Olympic berth in the championships, which served as an Olympic qualifying round.

South Korea made amends for its defeat in the men's event by snatching the women's gold medal. The Korean trio of Kim Moon- soon, Choi Mi-jin and Kim Jung-rye beat China 237-230 in the final.

The bronze went to Japan which routed Kazakhstan 225-214 in the play-off for the third place. (amd)