KONI recruits five new trainees for Busan Asiad
KONI recruits five new trainees for Busan Asiad
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Shuttlers Taufik Hidayat and Emma Ermawati are among the five
new recruits the National Sports Council (KONI) have included in
its tentative list for the 2002 Asian Games.
The other three are judoka Eka Setia Wirawan, lifter Sunarto
and badminton trainer Joko Supriyanto.
Taufik, who helped the Indonesian badminton team retain the
Thomas Cup for an unprecedented fifth time in a row in Guangzhou,
China, in May, stood in for junior Soni Dwi Kuncoro, who has been
eliminated.
"I talked with him in Guangzhou about his possible
availability for the Asian Games, and he gave me his commitment
that he would play his best," Imron Z.S., the training director,
told reporters here on Tuesday.
"In terms of quality, Taufik is far ahead of Soni. We can rest
our hopes on him. As he is in, we have also called up his coach
Joko," Imron said.
He reiterated KONI's policy that only athletes with good medal
prospects would be sent to the Asian Games, which will be held in
Busan, South Korea, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 14.
The recruitment of the four athletes and a coach was announced
only a week after KONI distributed a letter, the copies of which
were made available to the media, about the exclusion of as many
as 34 athletes and coaches.
Included in the excluded list was Emma Ermawati. Her return to
the training camp, according to Imron, was based on the Badminton
Association of Indonesia (PBSI) suggestion that Emma would have a
realistic medal hope if she paired up with Tri Kusheriyanto in
the mixed doubles.
Indonesia plans to compete in 18 events in Busan. There were
170 athletes at the start of the training camp, before KONI
whittled down the number to the current 130.
Further elimination, according to Imron, is very likely before
KONI sets up a fixed number of the contingent by the end of July.
"We will keep on monitoring the athletes. When they are deemed
unable to live up to our expectations, we will ground them," he
said.