Lack of bouts blamed for Bangkok dismal run
Lack of bouts blamed for Bangkok dismal run
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Boxers and trainer have blamed their dismal performance at the
recently concluded Kings Cup championship in Bangkok on the lack
of practice bouts ahead of the competition.
Four Indonesian boxers headed to Bangkok only to return home
with three of them losing out in the opening stage. Only Bara
Gomies, in the 71-kilogram category, fared better, winning a
bronze medal.
The three contenders were Willem Papilaya, Bonyx Saweho and
Stevie Binalay. The Kings Cup concluded last week, with
Thailand's A team the overall winners, claiming seven gold
medals.
"After the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, we only had three months
of training without any tournaments to practice fighting in,"
said 27-year-old Willem here on Monday.
"Our rivals on the other hand had participated in two or three
tournaments," he added. Willem was beaten by the eventual silver
medalist Ashgar Ali of Pakistan.
Coach Carlos Torre Perreira said tournaments were important to
train the boxers' speed and gauge their own strength after a
given period of training.
Meanwhile, Didiet Soedijoto, vice secretary-general of the
Indonesian Amateur Boxing Association (Pertina), refuted the
claim that the Indonesian boxers had lost because of the tough
opposition.
"All our opponents looked on good form at the tournament. And
looking at the points they scored, our boxers proved they were
not easily beaten.
"We are disappointed because we would have loved to win at
least a gold medal.
"We were lucky to be one of the ten medal-winning teams among
the 21 participating countries," he said.
The four are part of the 170-strong Indonesian contingent to
the Asian Games, which is scheduled to take place in Busan, South
Korea, in October. Indonesia will compete in 19 sports.
Didiet disclosed a series of tournaments the boxers were
likely to take part in ahead of the Busan trip.
"We will field them at the National Golden Glove championship
and see if they can earn a place in the Asian Games," Didiet
said.
The Golden Glove championship will run in Manado, North
Sulawesi, from April 22 to April 27 and feature around 100 boxers
from 29 provinces.
Sparrings with local boxers, some of who are professional,
have been planned. Semarang, Bandung and Bogor are the likely
choice of sites.
Pertina has also set aside a plan for its Asian Games hopefuls
to join the Asian Boxing Tournament in Kuala Lumpur in June
before looking to Cuba to set up camp.