Indonesian karatekas to gain unprecedented experience

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian national karatekas will have an unprecedented opportunity to experience an international karate tournament when they participate at the 2002 Indonesian Open Karate Tournament, to be held here from June 4 through June 6.

The event will be organized by the Indonesian Karatedo Federation (Forki) at the Bung Karno Indoor Tennis Stadium at the Bung Karno Sports Complex.

"Forki has organized this tournament, not only to prepare and select our karatekas for the Asian Games in Busan, but also to expose them to an international-level tournament," Forki chairman Luhut Binsar Panjaitan said on Monday.

"We are preparing 44 karatekas for the Asian Games and it would be very expensive to send them to tournaments abroad.

"By staging the event here, not only will they have the chance to meet international karatekas but we also have the opportunity to show that Indonesia is a safe tournament venue," he added.

So far, 15 countries have confirmed their participation, with six countries sending their national teams. These are from Bangladesh, France, host Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Other participants are from Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, India, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and South Africa.

"Earlier, we organized a cocktail party for several ambassadors based here to secure their countries' participation. We wanted to assure them that everything was fine here," said Luhut, a retired Army lieutenant general.

"Earlier, we planned to stage the tournament in Bali or Yogyakarta but then decided to have it here. It is quite safe here in Jakarta," he said.

Meanwhile, chairman of the organizing committee Hermawan Sulistyo said the event would cost about Rp 1 billion (US$108,000) to Rp 3.5 billion, depending on the number of participants.

"We have invited karatekas from 72 countries to take part in the event. But we expect some 300 karatekas from 21 countries to come," he said.

"We will bear their expenses during their stay here. It will cost us about Rp 3.5 million if all countries turn up."

The Indonesian karatekas are grouped in two teams of 22 combatants each and will compete in all 19 events.