Indonesia's female archers make early exits in Bangkok
BANGKOK (JP): Indonesian women's archery quartet failed in their bid for a podium finish at the 13th Asian Games when they were all sent packing in the early stages of the competition on Tuesday.
Veteran Nurfitriyana Saiman Lantang, a member of Indonesia's silver medal winning trio at the 1988 Olympics, was beaten 151- 155 by Japan's Misa Tsubouchi in the FITA second-stage knock-out round.
Lucia Elizabeth Sampouw joined Nurfitriyana's after falling to a 139-155 defeat against defending champion Lee Eun-kyung of South Korea.
Two other Indonesian representatives, Dwi Purwanti and Suhartini, missed the cut in a qualifying event for the 32-field competition for the medals at the Thammasat University sports complex on Monday.
Lee advanced to the final, but lost to compatriot Kim Jo-sun after three=arrow shoot-off. Both leveled on 109-109 before the tiebreaker. China's Lin Sang was awarded the bronze despite her loss to another Korean Lee Mi-jeong, due to a ruling which disallows a country to sweep all the three medals.
Indonesian coach Lee Jae-hyun of South Korea, who guided Lee to her Asian Games gold medal four years ago, said he was disappointed that his new charges had failed to execute all the techniques they have been practicing in training sessions.
"If they could maintain their concentration, I believe the training would pay dividends and their results would be much better," he said.
But Indonesian team manager Andi Suhendro blamed his squad's lack of competition for the poor performance.
"Nurfitriyana offered great resistance to her Japanese opponent but she could not last out the close match because she was unprepared for it," Andi said.
The Olympic veteran was unable to attend most of the national training program for the Asiad because her employer, Bank DKI, released her only three months before the games started.
Andi said his younger archers had cracked under pressure during their matches on Tuesday because they lacked international exposure.
"They were too tense during shooting at the qualifying round. Only Lucia managed to stay relaxed," he said.
Meanwhile, coach Wiryawan Richard Yohanis complained about the strong, cold wind.
"Many competitors, including Nurfitriyana, had visibility problems because the wind was blowing right in their faces," he said.
"South Korean and Japanese archers also failed to perform at their best because of the unfriendly wind," he added.
Indonesian men's trio of Hendra Setiawan, Wahyu Hidayat and Yulianto will be in action on Wednesday in the men's second-stage round. Compatriot Latief Pramono failed to qualify.
Andi said he did not expect too much from the men's trio. "We only have a slim chance in the men's event. Let's see tomorrow," he said.
After the Asian Games are over, the national archery team will have a one-month break before they resume training for the World Championships and the Asian Championships next year. (yan)