Indonesian fencers eye three golds in Vietnam

Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The number of gold medals on offer may have been upped from five to ten, but the Indonesian fencing team, which took the most medals in the sport in Malaysia in 2001, appears to be content to go after three at the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Eman Sumusi, the official of the Indonesian Fencing Association (Ikasi) in charge of athlete development, said during a press conference on Tuesday that the squad would only aim for 30 percent of the total number of medals given that subjectivity could interfere with scoring judgment at times.

"Fencing is vulnerable to subjectivity, therefore we can only give an estimation. We will be striving to get three gold medals," said Eman.

This year's event includes women's sabre and team events, which were not on offer during the Malaysian SEA Games.

The 2001 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur saw only individual events in men's and women's foil, men's and women's epee and men's sabre.

Indonesia topped the standings with two golds and a silver. Thailand took two golds and the Philippines one.

Eman said these two countries would once again be Indonesia's chief rivals in the SEA Games, which will be staged in Vietnam in December.

"Thailand has been undergoing training in Germany. The team must be serious in winning as many golds as possible in the event," he said.

Considering that Indonesia's two competitors had accelerated their buildup prior to the Games, Eman said it would be hard even to defend the number of golds Indonesia took in Malaysia.

The team is currently grooming 12 men and eight women athletes under six coaches, two of whom are Li Qiucheng and Ren Lin Min from China.

Senior athletes Dadan Heri, Fabiolla Tirza Paulany Ratu and Olfi Rumuat are the backbone of the squad, with the remaining 17 being newcomers.

The athletes have been undergoing a one-month training program in Shanghai, China, that started on Oct. 13. Indra Krisnamusi, who is Eman's son, is not traveling with the squad as he has just recovered from a ligament injury.

The two fencing golds in Kuala Lumpur added to the total of 72 golds taken by Indonesian, which left it third behind Malaysia (111) and Thailand (103) in the final standings.

The SEA Games are a biennial multi-event sporting showcase for the 10 Southeast Asia nations.