Oemar wary about Mexico challenge

Moch. N. Kurniawan The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Oemar Syarif, the silver medalist at last year's World Junior Karate Championship in Paris, is playing down his chances at next month's World Karate Championship in Mexico.

The event in Mexico, which will run from Nov. 18 to Nov. 21, will feature the top karatekas from around the world, a fact the 18-year-old Oemar is well aware of.

"I know it is a senior level competition and is much tougher than the junior level where I won the silver. However, I will do my best to at least not to lose to any Asian rivals," he said during a training session at the Bung Karno stadium here on Tuesday.

The Indonesian Karate-do Federation (Forki), which is training 10 athletes for the championship, will not set a medal target for the world championship given the depth and talent of the field.

Telly Melinda, who fights in the 48-kilogram category, said she was motivated by Oemar's success in Paris to excel in Mexico.

The 22-year-old karateka, who accounted for one of Indonesia's three gold medals at the Asian Karateka Championship earlier this year, said she was eager to emulate Oemar's performance from a year ago.

"If I am chosen for the team in Mexico, I will try to perform as well as possible," she said. "If Syarif was able to win silver at the World Junior Championship last year, hopefully ... I will be able to do the same."

Despite Telly's optimism, history is not on Indonesia's side, as the country has never managed to bring home a medal from the senior world championship.

Forki said it would use the event in Mexico to monitor the progress of its Asian rivals, with a view toward boosting the country's medal prospects at the 2006 Asian Games.

Among the Indonesian karatekas expected to take part in the world championship are Jeanny Zeannet and Oemar Syarif, who along with Telly won gold medals at the Asian Karateka Championship in Chinese Taipei.