Indonesian karatekas to scout Asian rivals at world championship

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian karatekas taking part in the upcoming World Karate Championship will use the event to get a better feeling for their Asian rivals ahead of the 2006 Asian Games.

The World Karate Championship will be held in Monterrey, Mexico, from Nov. 18 through Nov. 21.

"We will use the world championship to monitor the development of other Asian fighters ... which will help us set a realistic target for the Asian Games in 2006," Hendardji, the secretary- general of the Indonesian Karate-do Federation (Forki), said here on Monday.

Hendardji said the organization had not set a medal target for the world championship due to the tough competition from world- class fighters from countries such as Italy, Spain, France, Iran and Japan.

"Based on the previous records of Indonesian karate fighters, none of our athletes can expect to win a medal at the world championship," he said.

Forki is currently training 10 athletes under the Indonesia Awakens (IA) program. Karate is one of 11 sports Indonesia hopes to improve its showing in at the 2006 Asian Games in Qatar through the IA program, which involves about 80 athletes.

"We may send six or seven to the world championship. We will announce the names early next month," Hendardji said, adding that two fighters might be unable to attend the event due to injuries they sustained during the National Games in Palembang.

The IA karatekas are Jenny Zeannet, Kartika Ekawati, Bambang Maulidin, Kristo Mondolu, Telly Melinda, Puspa Meonk, Umar Syarif, Ismail Azwar, Donny Darmawan and Rizky Syahbana.

"Whether they make the team will based on their progress in training," Hendardji said, adding that the training program was continuing through Ramadhan with a lightened workload.