Mediocre archery results due to lack of competition

JAKARTA (JP): The newly appointed chairman of the Indonesia Archery Association, Hayono Isman, blamed a lack of competition as the main factor for the national athletes' bad results during a two-day simulation for the 13th Asian Games that ended on Wednesday.

"The simulation results indicated their lack of competitive spirit. They were too tense during the simulation which resulted in their bad scores," Hayono said on Wednesday after playing golf at the Senayan golf course.

The association is grooming Nurfitriyana Saiman Lantang, Dwi Purwanti, Lusia Elizabeth and Suhartini for the women's competition and Hendra Setijawan, Wahyu Hidayat, Yulianto and Latif Pramono for the men's team for the Dec. 6 to Dec. 20 quadrennial event in Bangkok.

They will compete from Dec. 12 to Dec. 17.

Nurfitriyana finished first in the Olympic round with 93 points followed by Dwi Purwanti (89 pts), Suhartini (84 pts) and the unselected Yuliasih (81 pts).

Lusia had lost to Dwi in the elimination.

Yuli Hidayana, who surprisingly finished second in the FITA round simulation on Tuesday, also lost in the elimination round, to Yuliasih.

On the men's side, Hendra scored 109 points to finish first followed by Latif Pramono (102 pts), Wahyu Hidayat (98 pts) and Yulianto (91 pts).

Hayono said that it would not be fair if either the National Sports Council or the association put the burden on the athletes' shoulders.

"They have only had a limited time to prepare for the Asiad and they only have had one tryout in Myanmar in late August," he said. "We'll face world champions from South Korea and China at the Asiad."

Hayono said he would review the contract of South Korean coach, Lee Jae-hyung, after the Asiad.

"If the result is good, we may ask him to stay on for a few more years. It depends on the athletes. If they say Lee is good for them, I'll follow their demands," he said.

The athletes have said that Lee should coach them for three years to get the best possible results.

Lee has been introducing a new technique to archers, which some of them consider very difficult. But the South Korean has blamed a lack of consistency when shooting as the main factor in the bad results.

Hayono said that if Lee continues to coach the national team, he would consider asking Lee to give coaching clinics to coaches throughout the country.

He also said that he would stage three invitation championships next year as preparation for the national championships.

The association would also build a dormitory for athletes near the Senayan archery range.

"I haven't spoken to the Gelora Senayan Management Board but I'll be thankful if they allow us (to build). The association can maintain the range and by having its own dormitory, we can groom our athletes more intensively," he said.

The association aims to win a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics.

"We must win a bronze first in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and the silver in the 2002 Asiad," Hayono said.

Hayono said he planned to invite a South Korean archery equipment maker to team up with local entrepreneurs to jointly produce low-priced equipment.

"Hopefully we can produce low-priced equipment, which meets the International Archery Federation (FITA) standards, to be distributed to provincial sports training centers," he said.

"So far, those centers only use equipment which meet the association's standards," he added. (yan)