Pelti will delay SEA Games training program until July
Pelti will delay SEA Games training program until July
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) will
delay its training program for the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA)
Games until July.
Pelti spokesman Benny Mailili said on Wednesday that Pelti had
decided in a meeting held on Tuesday evening and attended by
association chairman Tanri Abeng, to delay the training program
until after national selections from June 23 to June 26. Pelti
will select eight of 19 players to take part in the Games.
"We won't have a selection for doubles players. The players
will then take part in the SEA Games training program starting in
July."
Benny said veteran players, including Andrian Raturandang and
men's doubles specialist Sulistyo Wibowo, would be given the
chance to compete in the selection process.
Besides Andrian and Sulistyo, eight men's players will
participate in the selections. They are: Suwandi, Edy
Kusdaryanto, Hendri Susilo Pramono, Febi Widhiyanto, Dede
Suhendar, Bonit Wiryawan, Sebastian DaCosta and Yusmawan Fahmi.
Eight players on the women's side will also take part in the
selections: Irawati Moerid Iskandar, Frederika Girsang,
Mudarwati, Liza Andriyani, Wukirasih Sawondari, Dea Sumantri,
Angelique Widjaya and Romana Tedjakusuma.
Indonesia's top player, Wynne Prakusya, has already earned a
place in the Games due to her World Tennis Association ranking of
190.
Benny said currently all players were free to train with their
favorite coaches. But after they join the Pelti training program,
two coaches will train the men's squad and two will coach the
women's, with a head coach supervising the entire training.
"Coaching nominees must understand sports science. They will
have to present their ideas in a meeting during the one-month
training program. The officials at the meeting will decide on the
most feasible ideas," he said.
The decision to hold such a meeting was made following protest
from a number of tennis players who refused to take part in
multiple training programs supervised by different coaches. The
training programs were originally organized to prepare tennis
players for tournaments other than the SEA Games in Brunei
Darussalam from Aug. 7 to Aug. 15.
Protests further mounted following allegations that a Pelti
official appointed his friends to sit on the committee overseeing
the selection for the SEA Games and the Games training program.
Benny said the allegation was made in an anonymous letter.
The letter said Soedjono Timan, Pelti's official in charge of
athlete development, appointed Martina Widjaja and her
brother-in-law, Aga Sumarna, to chair the committee.
It also accused Soedjono of appointing officials and coaches
close to Martina as committee members, including Glen Sugita,
Deddy Prasetyo, Suharyadi and his wife, Yayuk Basuki, Tintus A.
Wibowo and his wife, Suzanna Anggarkusuma.
Benny said Martina was still slated to lead the national team
to the SEA Games and would be assisted by Tien Indrajit and Aga.
He also said the four coaches -- Suharyadi, Yayuk, Tintus and
Suzanna -- must take part in the presentations if they wanted to
coach the national teams. (ivy)