ISSI anxious of Tonton's plan to move to Malaysia

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

While applauding the planned move of Tonton Susanto to Malaysia, the Indonesian Cycling Association (ISSI) has warned that it should not disrupt the cycling ace's preparation for the 2002 Asian Games.

"As long as it is beneficial to Tonton and national cycling as a whole, then it is not a problem. The world's cycling governing body, UCI, has ruled that a cyclist may join any club in the world," Didi Sugianto, ISSI's chief of development affairs, told reporters here on Thursday.

Tonton, who ensured Indonesia's success at the recent Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, will join Telkom Malaysia. He said that he had decided to turn to Malaysia because of the lack of competitions at home.

"I have to admit that tournaments are not only rare but they lack standards. Athletes are just encouraged to compete in as many international races as possible," Didi said.

Concerns have been raised that his stint in Malaysia, should he proceed with the plan, might interfere with ISSI's preparation program for the Asian Games, for which Tonton will be the contingent's most prospective cyclist.

"We will need to talk further with Tonton and Telkom. We must take into account both our interests.

"We have our own training schedule that Tonton must comply with. That's why we will need to have their program. National interests must come first," Didi said.

Although previous reports said that Tonton's contract would be for a one-year term, Didi said that Telkom would probably take Tonton on only for a brief spell with its main plan to field the Indonesian racer at the Tour of Langkawi next February.

Records reveal that Tonton's two past contracts with foreign clubs -- Holland's Marcopolo in 1999 and Germany's Fedler in 2000 -- both committed him to one-tournament contracts.

Tonton has proven his toughness among his East Asian counterparts at the Tour de Langkawi, touted as the world's third largest race after Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, by winning the 1997 race and taking third place this year.

Given his achievements, Tonton has been picked to be a member of a group of six prioritized athletes prepared by ISSI, which plans to recruit another 13 in January for the Asian Games.

"We will see to it that all the athletes, including Tonton, must cease competing at tournaments six weeks before the start of the Asian Games," Didi said.

With his best ITT time of 47.94 km/hour, Tonton will be one of the Indonesian contingent's best medal prospects in the Pusan Games, which will run from Sept. 29 to Oct. 14 next year.

The latest Asian Games in Bangkok was won by Iranian Isbani who clocked 47.40 km/hour to win the gold medal, while Wong Kam Fo of Hong Kong won the 2001 Asian Championship achieving 46.32 km/hour.