Kadir eager to watch successes as a coach
Kadir eager to watch successes as a coach
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Former national karate star Abdul Kadir seems to be relishing his
new role as a trainer of the Indonesia's Southeast Asian (SEA)
Games hopefuls, expressing keenness to pass over his knowledge
and skills to his juniors.
"I'm proud to have been part of the team that bore Indonesia's
flag in international tournaments. I now accept the training
challenge, which gives me another chance of basking on victories
in a different appearance," Kadir told The Jakarta Post at the
office of the Indonesian Karate-Do Association (Forki) here on
Wednesday.
"I will assume this task seriously and try to make the best of
it," said the 36-year-old, who retired from the tournament in
2000 after he had been a regular slot in the national team since
1991.
During his athlete career, Kadir managed to reach the final at
the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima, Japan, as he lost in the final
match.
His last achievement 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.
"It must be different between to play and to train. A good
athlete doesn't automatically give a good training. The coaching
technic is something we should obtain from outside the playing
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 this 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 his assessment of the athletes' strength against
their regional rivals, Kadir said he could not make an account as
yet.
"They must have defects which need to be improved within the
next six months, but I can't say it now because we have not got
in touch with the athletes yet," he said.
The athletes will have to undergo another two selection fields
between June and July to make for the team.