Karate hopeful remains on Asian Games team

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

National karateka Sonny Simangasing will be going to the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, after all, following the National Sports Council (KONI)'s rejection of a proposal for his replacement on the squad.

The Indonesian Karate-Do Association (Forki) submitted a letter to KONI on Sept. 5, asking that Sonny be replaced on the team by Yan Pieter Napitupulu.

The letter, signed by Forki chairman Luhut Panjaitan, urged the move because Yan finished as the runner-up at June's Indonesia Open international karate tournament, while Sonny ended up in third place.

"Given the record of both athletes, we conclude that Sonny Simangasing has fared generally better than Yan Pieter Napitupulu," chef de mission to the Asian Games, Rudolf S. Warouw, said in a letter dated Sept. 10 in which KONI rejected the replacement.

Imron ZS, the Indonesian Asiad contingent's chief in charge of operational affairs, pointed to the performance of Sonny in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei in 1999 and Kuala Lumpur in 2001.

"In Brunei, Sonny won a gold while Yan wasn't included on the team. Sonny repeated his winning run two years later in Kuala Lumpur. Yan was on the team that time around, but he was only a reserve," Imron said.

"We can't judge an athlete's worth on one single event. What's more, Sonny has already been on the team since January and has taken part in a number of warm-up events," he said.

"And even if Yan was considered better than Sonny, it would already be too late for us to shuffle the two athletes. It's impossible to replace Sonny," he said.

With the Aug. 30 deadline for team lists to be submitted to the Busan Asian Games Organizing Committee (BAGOC), any replacements would be impossible.

Sonny is one of five Indonesian karatekas who will participate in the Busan Games. The other four are Arief Taufan Syamsudin, Bambang Maulidin, M. Hasan Basri and the only female competitor, Jenny Zeannet.

The proposal to replace Sonny might signal a crack in the karate-do association, given the fact that the proposal appeared not to have been supported by all Forki officials.

There are also questions as to why the proposal only came recently, while the Indonesia Open, on which Luhut based his reasoning, took place in June.

Forki secretary-general Hendardji reportedly refused to sign the letter. When asked about this, he refused to confirm or deny the report.

"It's unnecessary to polemicize," he said when The Jakarta Post contacted him.

When asked if he agreed with the proposal, he said: "I have said that (this matter) shouldn't be discussed further."

Team manager Rochjantono Soe'oed, who was contacted separately, said he was not consulted on the matter.

"I didn't know (about the letter). I was only told that Sonny would be replaced," he said.

"That's unacceptable that the assessment of the athletes was based on only one tournament. It violates the parameters of the eligibility of the athletes for the Asian Games. It was subjective," he said.