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)