Indonesian 'wushu' team eyes 6 SEA Games golds

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's wushu team is eying six gold medals in the forthcoming SEA Games here, according to one of the sport's officials.

Supandi Kusuma, a wushu trainer said in Medan that he was optimistic of achieving the target after observing the athletes' success in a number of international events in 1995 and 1996.

"The target of six golds at the Jakarta Games was also set by the Indonesian Sports Council. Eighteen golds are on offer in wushu and we hope the remaining 12 golds will be distributed between Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines," Antara quoted Supandi as saying Thursday.

Supandi also said that among the countries participating in the wushu matches at the Games this October, Thailand is Indonesia's biggest rival. "We hope no medals will be won by Thailand in wushu."

For the coming Games, Supandi said the country's top five wushu athletes, all from North Sumatra, are among those selected to train in Jakarta. They are Jainab, Jelita, Juwita, Juliana and Jamoga Sidabutar.

Jainab grabbed a silver at the world wushu championships in Baltimore, U.S.A. Sixty countries took part in the championship.

Meanwhile, 15 of the 25 wushu athletes called to attend the Games training in Surabaya, East Java, have not shown up yet.

Suryadi Saputra, the wushu team manager for the SEA Games, said in Surabaya that Wednesday was the deadline for the athletes to attend the training.

"We received a report that the 15 athletes did not show up for training because they are still busy at school. We have asked the sports council for a dispensation for the athletes to skip school so they can attend the training," Suryadi said.

Suryadi added that no sanctions will be imposed against the 15 wushu athletes who had not attended. "It was the council who asked the athletes to attend the training and not the Indonesian Wushu Association. We will consult with the council as to what action has to be taken against these athletes."

Taekwondo

The Indonesian Taekwando Association will not send its players overseas as part of their training but instead will bring in foreign teams to compete with the local taekwandoins.

Association official Rusid Faisal Siregar said the association is planning to bring in a team of South Korean taekwondoins to fight local athletes in May.

"Through matches either with foreign taekwondoins or local athletes, we can evaluate the strength of our athletes who are preparing for the SEA Games," Rusid said.

Rusid said that only 27 of the 32 taekwondoins selected to attend training in Cilodong, Bogor, have turned up. The training began last month under Korean coach Oh Il-nam. Oh is being assisted by two national coaches, Zulkifli and Dasantio Pribadi.

Commenting on the number of taekwondo gold medals being targeted by Indonesia at the SEA Games, Rusid said the association expected the athletes to win more than five. (lnt)