Koni rejects archers' Olympic departure date

Koni rejects archers' Olympic departure date

JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council (KONI) has rejected
a request from the Indonesian women's archery team to leave early
for the Olympic Games, causing the coach disappointment.

In a letter signed by the Indonesian Olympic project officer
Subardi Suar on Monday, the council asked the team to depart on
July 8 together with the main national contingent, instead of
giving the archers an extra 19-day stay in Atlanta prior to the
centennial Olympics.

"They should have seen the benefit of having ample
acclimatization time in Atlanta," national coach Daniel Lumalesil
said during a simulation match yesterday.

"The Olympic atmosphere will be very different from the
simulation here," he added.

Lumalesil said that although his Olympic-bound archers are
getting close to their peak form, they still need more fitness
tests at the real venue. He had suggested that his team depart on
June 19.

The archery team has skipped two Olympic warm-up tournaments,
including the Atlanta Grand Prix held at the venue for the
archery competition last April.

In place of the warm-up tournaments, the national archery body
held a simulation at the Senayan range starting yesterday.
Nurfitriyana Lantang, her sister Dahliana, Hamdiah and Purnama
Pandiangan, who are likely to be the Olympic team, played their
fellow national aces, including male archers.

The quartet reached the quarterfinals yesterday after
convincingly winning their respective duels.

Dahliana from East Kalimantan had the highest score, 157 when
she outdueled national male archer Wahyu Hidayat, who managed
only 140.

Hamdiah and Purnama scored 150 apiece in their victories over
Upuwaisyah and Ditto Rembrand respectively. Nurfitriyana, who was
a member of both the Olympic silver medal winning team in 1988
and the World Championships bronze winning squad last year,
managed only 147 points. But it was enough to beat Lucia
Elizabeth who scored 132.

Indonesia took an Olympic silver in Seoul, its first ever
medal since its debut in the world's sporting extravaganza in
1958, through Nurfitriyana, Lilies Handayani and Purnama.

The trio of Nurfitriyana, Hamdiah and Dahliana handed
Indonesia its sole medal in the World Championships here last
year. (yan)