PABBSI hopes lifters get four Olympics tickets

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.