Jakarta vies for PON title

Jakarta vies for PON title

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta

The Jakarta Sports Council has set itself the target of
regaining the overall championship winner's title at the 16th
National Games (PON) in Palembang, South Sumatra, this September.

Jakarta had been the overall champion since the seventh PON in
1969 until the last edition in Surabaya in 2000 when it was
pushed into second place by the host in the final standings.

The contingent from the capital city collected 116 gold
medals, 16 less than the champion's.

The upcoming PON, which will be the first ever held outside of
Java, will run from Sept. 2 to Sept. 14.

Jakarta Sports Council chairman Fauzi Bowo said that Jakarta
would have to take more than 50 percent of the medals on offer to
be crowned as champions in the quadrennial multievent sporting
showcase.

"We expect that we can take gold medals in paragliding, pencak
silat, athletics, shooting and wushu because we have good
athletes in these sports ... hopefully, our gold medal targets
will not prove excessive," he said on Wednesday.

Fauzi said the council had been grooming 800 athletes for the
games. This number would be whittled down to 600.

"We will begin sorting out the athletes in June to determine
the best," Fauzi said.

He said that the council was keeping an eye on potential
rivals as they might ruin Jakarta's hopes in the medal stakes.

"We are not only monitoring East Java and West Java but other
provinces so that we can be sure of reaching our target this
time," he said. East Java and West Java have been traditionally
tough opponents for Jakarta in the National Games.