Karatekas hoping to reach their peak in Cebu City
Karatekas hoping to reach their peak in Cebu City
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After a difficult year of poor results and discord within the
team, national karatekas are hoping the worst is behind them.
With some promising recent results, they are hoping to peak at
the 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) in the Philippines, where karate
is one of the sports being held in Cebu City in late November.
Mohammad Umar Syarif gave the team a boost by winning the
European Master Cup 2005 early this month.
"I think Umar's victory in the European Master Cup, which
hadn't been done by Asian fighters in the past 20 years, is a
sign of the return of our karate fighters," national squad head
coach M. Gusti said on Wednesday.
It was a welcome return to the podium after the fighters were
shut out of the medals at the 2004 worlds, the 2005 Islamic
Solidarity Games and the 2005 Asian Karate Federation (AKF)
Championship.
The Indonesian Karate-do Federation (Forki) concluded that the
string of poor results was due to disharmony between coaches and
athletes, a finding which led to the replacement of head coach
Ahmad Budu with M. Gusti.
In recent months the athletes have been able to focus on their
training in new surroundings. From May to early August, the
athletes relocated from Jakarta to Samosir, North Sumatra.
Bambang Maulidin, a gold medalist in the 55 kg division in
Hanoi, acknowledged the change in training location made him more
focused because there were fewer distractions.
Bambang has overcome personal tragedy this year; his parents
and two younger sisters were killed in the Dec. 26 tsunami that
swept away his family home in Banda Aceh.
Fighter Rizky Syahbana has said he was more motivated to prove
that he could contribute his best in the SEA Games after the
recent poor showings.
M. Gusti said he expected other karate fighters would emulate
the success of Umar, who also won a gold in the 80 kg in Hanoi.
For Cebu, Forki is preparing 20 athletes with a target of five
golds, surpassing its four golds, five silver and seven bronze
from Hanoi.
"We will see the progress of other athletes when we have a
duel meet with Malaysian karatekas next week in Jakarta," he said
of a showdown with the fighters who took two golds in the Islamic
Solidarity Games.
"Malaysia is always good in Southeast Asia and their fighters
have improved fast."
Women fighters are also scheduled to compete in the Women's
Islamic Games in Iran from Sept. 22-Sept. 28.
The squad will then go to the Malaysia Open from Sept. 29 to
Oct. 3.
--------------------------------
National team
Men
Mohammad Umar Syarif
Christo Mondolu
Ismail Aswar
Rizky Syahbana
Donny Dharmawan
Bambang Maulidin
Bisma Yulian
Faizal Z.N.
Rommy Yanuar
Aswar
Women
Puspa Meonk
Jenny Zeannet
Telly Melinda
Yessy Mariance
Nurahmi K.S.
Yulianti Syafruddin
Alit Tresna
Yuli Ekayanti
Dewi Yulianti
Puspita Triana Gustin
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After a difficult year of poor results and discord within the
team, national karatekas are hoping the worst is behind them.
With some promising recent results, they are hoping to peak at
the 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) in the Philippines, where karate
is one of the sports being held in Cebu City in late November.
Mohammad Umar Syarif gave the team a boost by winning the
European Master Cup 2005 early this month.
"I think Umar's victory in the European Master Cup, which
hadn't been done by Asian fighters in the past 20 years, is a
sign of the return of our karate fighters," national squad head
coach M. Gusti said on Wednesday.
It was a welcome return to the podium after the fighters were
shut out of the medals at the 2004 worlds, the 2005 Islamic
Solidarity Games and the 2005 Asian Karate Federation (AKF)
Championship.
The Indonesian Karate-do Federation (Forki) concluded that the
string of poor results was due to disharmony between coaches and
athletes, a finding which led to the replacement of head coach
Ahmad Budu with M. Gusti.
In recent months the athletes have been able to focus on their
training in new surroundings. From May to early August, the
athletes relocated from Jakarta to Samosir, North Sumatra.
Bambang Maulidin, a gold medalist in the 55 kg division in
Hanoi, acknowledged the change in training location made him more
focused because there were fewer distractions.
Bambang has overcome personal tragedy this year; his parents
and two younger sisters were killed in the Dec. 26 tsunami that
swept away his family home in Banda Aceh.
Fighter Rizky Syahbana has said he was more motivated to prove
that he could contribute his best in the SEA Games after the
recent poor showings.
M. Gusti said he expected other karate fighters would emulate
the success of Umar, who also won a gold in the 80 kg in Hanoi.
For Cebu, Forki is preparing 20 athletes with a target of five
golds, surpassing its four golds, five silver and seven bronze
from Hanoi.
"We will see the progress of other athletes when we have a
duel meet with Malaysian karatekas next week in Jakarta," he said
of a showdown with the fighters who took two golds in the Islamic
Solidarity Games.
"Malaysia is always good in Southeast Asia and their fighters
have improved fast."
Women fighters are also scheduled to compete in the Women's
Islamic Games in Iran from Sept. 22-Sept. 28.
The squad will then go to the Malaysia Open from Sept. 29 to
Oct. 3.
--------------------------------
National team
Men
Mohammad Umar Syarif
Christo Mondolu
Ismail Aswar
Rizky Syahbana
Donny Dharmawan
Bambang Maulidin
Bisma Yulian
Faizal Z.N.
Rommy Yanuar
Aswar
Women
Puspa Meonk
Jenny Zeannet
Telly Melinda
Yessy Mariance
Nurahmi K.S.
Yulianti Syafruddin
Alit Tresna
Yuli Ekayanti
Dewi Yulianti
Puspita Triana Gustin