Indonesian athletes in good form except soccer players: Officials

JAKARTA (JP): All the Indonesian athletes being prepared for the Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in September are in relatively good physical condition except for the soccer players.

The National Sports Council (KONI)'s physical trainer Paulus Pasurney and the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI)'s medic Mohammad Nasrun separately told reporters of the athletes' latest condition on Thursday.

"It's difficult to have a general review of our athletes' physical fitness because each sport, even each event, needs different physical conditions," Paulus said.

"All I can say is that they are on the right track to reach their peaks for the Sept. 8 to Sept. 17 Games and I'm very optimistic about it. I'm sure they will reach their best performance there."

Paulus pointed to long-distance runner Supriati, the 1998 Asian Games gold medalist in the women's 5,000 meter, as an example to illustrate the difference in physical fitness requirements.

"Supriati recorded 16:35 in her 5,000 m and 33:47 in 10,000 m. Both records showed she could maintain her endurance and so we only need to sharpen her timing in the remaining three months.

Paulus said in track and field, sprinters and marathon runners had different physical fitness requirements.

"Sprinters need speed while marathoners need endurance.

"For example weightlifters don't require speed or endurance, but they need muscle power to lift the barbels."

Nasrun, however, revealed that the SEA Games soccer players have poor VO2max (oxygen capacity in lungs).

"The ideal VO2max value for a soccer player is 56. But it's difficult for the players to reach their peak form in the remaining three months. They need to have a VO2max value of at least 50 in September, so they must be given extra training besides the SEA Games training sessions," he said.

Nasrun said goalkeeper Ahmad Kurniawan had the poorest VO2max value of 46 while Isnan Ali had the highest with 54. The other players rated below 50.

He also revealed that Isnan, Purwanto and Dulla Baa had the poorest hemoglobin value of 12.6. The standard is 15.

"Generally speaking, the players are below the physical fitness standard."

Meanwhile, sports physician Dr. James Tangkudung, a member of KONI's Sports Science Commission, said he and his colleagues were prepared to handle more injuries during the final preparations for Games.

"During the first and second preparation stages, we only had complaints of fatigue and minor injuries because athletes were in their early stages of preparation and many of them were still in their hometowns," he said.

"But the athletes will be facing very intensive training and tryout sessions in the final stage. We will hire more masseurs and physiotherapists to help athletes recover faster from their fatigue and injuries."

So far, two athletes have suffered from broken bones and three more are under examination, including sprinter Irene Joseph who is suspected of having heart problems.

Separately, PSSI team manager Irawadi D. Hanafi announced that the general manager of the Soccer West Coast Association Paul Tom Bides had notified the team that the Indonesian-Western Australia friendly matches were from July 16 to July 24.

"On July 18, we will play Western Australian State U-19 team, on July 19 we will meet the Western Australian State Amateur team and on July 23 we will face the Western Australia State U-23 team," he said. (nvn/ivy)