Kadir content to participate from the stands

The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Former national karate star Abdul Kadir seems to be relishing his new role as a trainer of Indonesia's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games hopefuls, expressing keenness to pass on his knowledge and skill.

"I'm proud to have been part of the team that carried the Indonesian flag in international tournaments. I now accept the training challenge, which gives me a chance of basking in the victories in a different light," Kadir told The Jakarta Post at the office of the Indonesian Karate Federation (Forki) here on Wednesday.

"I will tackle this task seriously and try to make the best of it," said the 36 year old, who retired from competition in 2000 after being a regular on the national team since 1991.

During his athletic career, Kadir managed to reach the finals at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima, Japan, but lost in the final match.

His last win was at the 1999 SEA Games in Brunei Darussalam where he collected his second gold at the regional multi-event sporting meet. His first was in Manila in 1993.

"There is a difference between playing and training. A good athlete does not automatically make a good coach. Coaching technics are something we should obtain from outside the court," he said.

Kadir is one of the seven coaches recently assigned by Forki to prepare the athletes for the next SEA Games, which will be held in Vietnam in December.

As many as 40 karatekas in 19 classes are on the trainee list. They were finalists at the national championship a couple of weeks ago in Kutai, East Kalimantan, which is also the training venue beginning on Thursday.

Asked about the athletes' strengths compared with their regional rivals, Kadir said he was unable to assess them as yet.

"They must have flaws that need to be worked on over the next six months, but I can't say just now because we have not had any contact with the athletes yet," he said.

The athletes will have to undergo another two selection fields between June and July to make the team.