PABBSI hopes lifters get four Olympics tickets

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Bodybuilding Association (PABBSI) hopes to send five of its lifters to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

PABBSI secretary general Djoko Pramono said on Thursday that four female lifters -- Lisa Rumbewas and Sri Indriyani in the 48kg division, Supeni and Winarni in the 53kg division -- and a male athlete Erwin Abdullah competing in the 63kg division were the best hopes to grab the tickets.

The athletes will compete in the World Championships in Athens, which also serves as an Olympics qualifier, from Nov. 21 to Nov. 24.

"We have targeted all four females to reach the world top seven positions and grab Olympics tickets," he said.

The association have also targeted Erwin to finish 14th in the championships to earn an Olympic ticket.

Djoko said all the lifters, except Lisa, have competed in world-class tournaments and have made good preparations.

"Lisa is being sent to the championships because she needs international experience and we are preparing her to replace Indriyani in the future," he said.

However, Djoko admitted that one of his athletes had a psychological barrier prior to the championships which forced the lifter to take a break from training sessions.

"We managed to overcome the barrier by asking for help from a psychologist," he said, declining to mention the lifter's name.

"Some athletes felt bored during training but the coaches, Imron Rosadi and Sori Endah Nasution, managed to create different situations and used different training methods to overcome monotony," he said, adding that the lifters' personal bests have improved.

Djoko said should his lifters fail to earn tickets in the championships, PABSSI still had another chance by sending them to the Asian Championships in India next year.

"If they fail this time, or if PABBSI wants to get more tickets, we can send them to the Asian Championships next year. The problem is the championships take place either in late August or early September, which is too close to the Olympics," he said.

Djoko, who is also chairman of the Indonesian Scuba Diving Association (POSSI), said POSSI had to cancel its plan to send three divers to the Asian Scuba Diving Championships in Beijing in early October as the National Sports Council (KONI) declined to help them financially. (yan)

POSSI provided Rp 30 million (US$4,260) to send the athletes, but Rp 20 million of it was used to stage a training program for the championships.

"We only had Rp 10 million left and needed Rp 80 million to send the athletes, but KONI declined to help us," Djoko said.