Minister Mahadi to speak with archer Yana about rejoining team

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mahadi Sinambela, promised Monday to speak directly to women's archer Nurfitriyana Saiman Lantang and ask her to rejoin the national team in order to compete in the Olympic Games in Sydney in September.

"For the sake of the country, I will speak to Nurfitriyana in person and ask her to change her mind about retiring."

Mahadi was responding to requests made by the Indonesian Archery Association (Perpani) chairman Hayono Isman at his office. Hayono said if Nurfitriyana, nicknamed Yana, joins the team, Indonesia has a chance to bring home a medal.

"Without Yana, our hopes are slim. Perpani doesn't give them much of a chance of winning. It's a great problem for us because the grooming process for the next generation hasn't been started yet," said Hayono, former state minister of youth affairs and sports.

"Yana is sill a good archer. She's at the top of her form. She can also motivate her teammates."

Yana, who has competed in three Olympics beginning in 1988, announced in February that she was going to resign from the sport after the 15th National Games (PON) in Surabaya in June, and subsequently pass over participating in the Olympics.

Perpani is currently whipping into shape Hamdiah, Lusia Elizabeth Sumampouw, Purnama Pandiangan and Ajeng Wulan.

The international archery federation (FITA) will announce on June 26 which countries will take part in the women's team archery event at the Olympics.

The four archers will compete in the Nation's Cup in Weizheim, Germany, from May 19 to May 26.

"We hope the archers will improve technically and boost their fighting spirit during the event. Hopefully, they can also observe skilled archers from the other participating nations because this is the last event before the Olympics," said Hayono.

Hayono complained about the difficulty of grooming young talent in the sport, because archery is a "non-spectator sport."

Mahadi suggested that Perpani work jointly with high schools to popularize archery in the country.

"We can start with the more elite schools on Java island. There are already several archery schools, like the one in Klaten, Central Java." (yan)