Indonesian table tennis stars hoping for Olympics glory

Indonesian table tennis stars hoping for Olympics glory

JAKARTA (JP): As many as six national table tennis players
will represent the country in the Olympic Games qualifying round
in Chiba, Japan, an official of the Indonesian Table Tennis
Association said yesterday.

Jhoni Waworuntu, the association's secretary, told reporters
after a hearing with the National Sports Council that the council
has urged the association to send its athletes to take part in
the qualification round slated to be held March 25 to 28.

"The participation in the qualifying round aims at boosting
their technical skill in the sport before the Olympic Games," he
said.

"But the final decision of their participation in the Olympics
will be discussed with the council after going through the
qualifying round," he added.

Earlier in the hearing, the association urged the council to
allow its athletes to participate in the qualifying round. But
the council could not guarantee it will be able to send the table
tennis athletes, who pass the qualifying round, to the Olympics.

Jhoni said the national training program for the qualifying
round will start after the Idul Fitri holidays.

However, he declined to mention the names of the athletes who
will leave for the competition. But he did indicate that
Indonesian cracks Rossy Damayanti and Anton Suseno are among the
team members.

"We'll send three male and three female athletes in accordance
with the International Table Tennis Federation's rules," he said.

Jhoni said although Indonesia sent its table tennis athletes
to the Olympic Games in Barcelona four years ago and in Seoul in
1988 none of them was able to go to the quarterfinals.

"We hope our athletes will be able to go through the
qualifying round and represent the country in the Olympics," he
said.

Jhoni expressed his hope that Indonesian athletes will be able
to reach the quarterfinals at the Olympic Games in Atlanta this
year. (05)