Karate hopeful remains on Asian Games team

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.