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)