Karate body plans national training

Karate body plans national training

JAKARTA (JP): The 19th Southeast Asian Games is still one year
away, but the Indonesian Karate Federation has begun preparing
for its long-term national training program.

The program should commence by the end of November, said Tono
Soe'oed, a federation official, at a press conference yesterday.

"We plan to train between 60 and 70 karatekas," he said.

There is a possibility that the federation will contract a
foreign coach, he said.

"We have nominees from Japan, England, the Netherlands and
France. But we'll only contract one," he said.

For the first three months, all athletes will undergo a series
of physical workouts with local coaches. The foreign coach will
be in charge of their technical skills following the first phase
of training.

Tono said that the federation plans to send its best karatekas
for overseas stints, hopefully in March, to either Japan or
Australia.

In last year's SEA Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, karate was
dropped from the events. In Jakarta next year 19 gold medals will
be offered for karate events.

Indonesia won seven out of a possible 18 gold medals at the
1993 Games in Singapore.

"Next year, we hope to win seven or eight medals from the 19
up for grabs," he said.

As part of the selection process six female and eight male
karatekas will be sent to the World Karate Federation
Championships which will be held in South Africa from Nov. 3 to
Nov. 11. (yan)