KONI accepts Yana's decision to quit sport

KONI accepts Yana's decision to quit sport

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's Olympic Games team executive
training director, Arie Sudewo, said on Thursday that he could
accept archer Nurfitriyana Saiman's Lantang reason for resigning
from the sport after the 15th National Games (PON) in June and
bow out of the Sydney Olympics in September.

"I spoke to Yana (Nurfitriyana's nickname) for an hour and I
can accept her reason that she resigned due to her age. She will
be 38 next month. She's quite old for an archer and she feels
that she can no longer maintain her strength for an international
level event," said Arie, who is also vice chairman of the
National Sports Council (KONI).

"I respect her decision. I won't force her to join the
Olympics team because I don't want her to play under duress.

"This is the time, not only for the Indonesian Archery
Association (Perpani), but also for other sports organizations to
learn not to pin their hopes on one athlete only. They must
prepare younger athletes sooner to take over the seniors'
duties."

Nurfitriyana has competed in three Olympics.

Perpani has prepared three women archers -- Purnama
Pandiangan, Dahliana and Rusena Gelanteh -- to replace Yana for
the training.

Perpani has qualified Hamdiah for the Olympics' individual
event, while Yana and Lusiana Elizabeth Sumampouw are still
waiting to hear their Olympic fate.

The international archery federation (FITA) will announce on
June 26 which countries will take part in the women's team
archery event at the Olympics.

Arie said he had asked Perpani to prepare two archers as
substitutes for Yana. "One archer is prepared just in case any of
the three archers are injured."

Speaking about the absence of Perpani chairman, Hayono Isman,
Arie said KONI regretted his inactivity but would let Perpani
solve its internal problem.

Hayono, former state minister of youth affairs and sports, has
been in England for months.

"I have spoken to Perpani deputy secretary-general, Andi
Soehendro, and he promised to try to keep in touch with Pak
Hayono," he said.

"This problem will influence the archers development
nationwide."

Table tennis

Earlier Thursday, the Indonesian Table Tennis Association
(PTMSI) official in charge of athletes development, RM Noeryanto,
told a media conference that its table tennis players had a
chance to qualify for the Olympics.

PTMSI has been grooming Anton Suseno, Deddy Da Costa, Ismu
Harianto and David Jacobs on the men's side and Rossy Pratiwi
Dipoyanti, Puteri Hasibuan and Fauziah Yulianti on the women's
side.

The seven players will warm up in the World Championships team
event in Kuala Lumpur from Feb. 19 to Feb. 26 before competing in
the Olympics qualifying round in Hong Kong from Feb. 29 to March
5.

Coaches Diana Wuisan and Leman Affandi will accompany the
players.

Noeryanto said PTMSI expected its players to improve their
world rankings in the World Championships, in which 150 countries
will compete.

The Indonesian men's team ranks 31st in the world while the
women's team is in the 33rd position.

"Anton and Rossy are still one of the best in Southeast Asia
but they still need to prove themselves, especially against
Singaporean players, who originate from China," Noeryanto said.

"Both players are expected to reach the top seven positions in
the qualification," he added.

Rossy and Anton qualified for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta,
Georgia.

"Indonesia dominated the Southeast Asia region in 1993 by
sweeping seven gold medals in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
But now Chinese-Singaporean players dominate," Noeryanto said.

Separately, women sprinter Irene Truitje Joseph aims to
improve her personal best in the Australian Open in Sydney from
Feb. 24 to Feb. 27.

"The Indonesian Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) doesn't
give us a target to meet but I personally aim to improve my best
time," she said on Wednesday.

Irene will compete in the event with John Murray and Subakir.
Subakir will replace Yanis Raubaba, who has been absent from
training since the Christmas holiday after traveling to Biak,
Irian Jaya, to take the civil servant entrance test. (yan)