International shooters meet in Bali

Wahyoe Boedhiwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Sanur, Bali

As many as 480 shooters from 32 countries are presently participating in the AustralAsia 2004 Shooting and Shotgun Championship being held at Serangan Island, 18 kilometers south of Denpasar, from Nov. 27 through Dec. 4.

Organized by Indonesia's branch of the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC), the championship, the first of its kind held in Indonesia, is categorized as Level IV.

Taking part at this level are shooters from the United States, France, the Philippines, Italy, the Czech Republic, Australia, Thailand and Finland.

"The Indonesian Shotgun Championship, however, is categorized at Level III," explained Soeroso during a press meeting here in Sanur.

The current shooting and shotgun championship, he said, is like a miniature of the world championship because many international shooters, including 1999 and 2002 world champion Eric Grauffel from France, are taking part in the current event.

Grauffel arrived on the island of Bali late Saturday night after a few hours delay in Singapore.

In addition to Graufell, more than 10 world-class shooters are also participating in this championship.

Indonesia will feature 110 shooters including Roi Harianto from Surakarta, Central Java, in the open-class, Frans Paul from Jakarta in the standard class, Agus Supartono from Bandung, West Java in the production class, and Glen Clinton from Bali in the revolver class.

Bambang Trihatmodjo, chairman of the organizing committee and chairman of IPSC Indonesia, told reporters that the objective for this championship is to bring Indonesia into the top five in the production class, the top ten in the open class and the best five in the revolver category.

"The success of the AustralAsia Shooting and Shotgun Championship will become our trademark to promote Indonesia as the host for the coming World Championship," said Bambang.

Soeroso added that this championship would also become a significant training ground for Indonesian athletes.

"This is a good opportunity to learn various techniques, strategies as well as the latest equipment currently used by international shooters," he exclaimed.

Meanwhile, president of IPSC, Nick Alexakos, considers the quality and standard of Indonesian athletes to be improving over time.

"I look forward to seeing the coming results. I hope the host shooters can grab as many medals as possible," he said.

Despite unfavorable news on Bali and Indonesia in the international media due to security and other reasons, IPSC decided to hold the AustralAsia championship on the island of Bali.

"The show must go on and I found the facility here has been excellent so far," Alexakos said.

He added that the IPSC would consider appointing Indonesia to host the 2008 World Championship. Ecuador, he said, will host the championship next year (2005).

Sunday's championship presented Indonesian shooters in various categories, while the international shooters will start competing on Monday (Nov.29). (Schedule for Monday, Nov.29: Handgun Match from 8 a.m. through 5 p.m.)