Male gymnasts adapt well in Romania

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The seven-strong group of gymnasts training in Romania since March is experiencing mixed fortunes in adapting to the eastern European country, the Gymnastics Association of Indonesia (Persani) said on Tuesday.

The four male rhythmic gymnasts have already trained with juniors in the eastern European country and participated in an international competition, Persani's secretary-general Asep Sulaeman said.

"Last April, our male gymnasts participated in an international tournament in Romania after one month's training," he said.

"Although the results were not good, the invitation to take part in the tournament has boosted our athletes' confidence."

Later this month, the male gymnasts, most of them teenager, would participate in another international junior tournament, he added.

In contrast, the three women are still adjusting to the program formulated by their Romanian coach, Asep said.

"However, they are scheduled to participate in international tournament in September in Turkey along with their male compatriots and gymnasts who are training in Jakarta," he said.

On March 1, male gymnasts M. Tri Saputra, 13, of Riau, Melyusi Adeputra, 17, of Lampung, Pramu Nur Imam, 18, of East Java, and Endriadi, 21, of Jakarta, and female athletes Dewi Prahara, 19, of Riau, Nefi Nurbaeti, 11, of Jakarta and Riri Wulandari, 16, of West Sumatra left for Romania to undergo a two-year training program.

The male gymnasts are training in Bistrita, while the women are in Onesti.

The athletes are expected to win gold medals at the Southeast Asia (SEA) Games later this year, as well as the Asian Games next year.

Eva Butarbutar, a former gymnast who is now a coach with the association, said she was glad to hear the athletes' adjustment was relatively smooth.

"They have no problem with food and weather in Romania," she said.

"Thus they could concentrate on practicing at present."

She added that she believed the women gymnasts would shortly catch up with the men in adjusting to the differences.