Pencak silat proposed for Asiad

Pencak silat proposed for Asiad

JAKARTA (JP): Vice President of the Olympic Council of Asia Mohammad Hasan has proposed that Indonesian martial arts pencak silat be included in the 13th Asian Games in 1998 in Bangkok.

The decision on whether or not the council will accept the proposal will be made at the council's general assembly on Dec. 11 in Bangkok, Thailand, Hasan was quoted on Sunday by Kompas. Hasan was in Harbin, China attending a meeting of the council's executive committee.

Hasan expressed hope that other Southeast Asian countries would support the proposal.

Hasan argued that pencak silat was no different from other Asian martial arts such as karate or judo which have been included as medal events in the Games. Therefore, if karate or judo can be competed at the Asiad, why not pencak silat, he reasoned.

Hasan said the council's executive committee decided on Sunday that a maximum of 28 sports will be contested at the 1998 Asian Games and that the host reserves the right to determine 20 of them on the condition that they must be those contested at the Olympic Games. The remaining eight sports will be decided among the most popular sports in Asia.

Given this decision, Hasan said he was optimistic that pencak silat would find its way in the upcoming Asian Games in Bangkok.

The meeting of the council's executive committee, scheduled to end yesterday, was held in conjunction with the 3rd Asian Winter Games in Harbin, in which 728 athletes from 17 countries are taking part. Kuwait and Thailand are among the participants even though snow is not part of their climate. The Games were officially opened by Chinese president Jiang Zemin on Sunday. (arf)