Pencak silat team leaves for world championship

JAKARTA (JP): About 30 local pencak silat athletes left for Kuala Lumpur Monday to compete in the World Cup which begins today.

Their coach Puji Hartono said Monday the team would treat the World Cup as a warmup for the SEA Games here in October.

"We have not set any targets as the championship serves only as a tryout for the Jakarta Games," Puji was quoted by Antara as saying.

The pencak silat World Cup will end April 30. Athletes from Germany, the Netherlands and other European countries and Thailand, Vietnam and other Asian countries will compete in the championship.

"Pencak silat is no longer in the hands of Indonesia but has spread to other countries, including Europe. Most European countries are seriously studying this defensive martial art. Even Thailand, Vietnam and host Malaysia are seeking to take the title from Indonesia which was the overall champion in the 1992 world championship in Jakarta," Puji said.

The 17 men and 13 women representing Indonesia will be accompanied by four coaches and team manager Jan A. Pandey.

Among the athletes are M. Asdar, Imanuel Daundi, Edhi Prabowo, Edwin Rungkat, Ika Lesmana, Tulus Pribadi, Rina Dwiastuti and Haris Firmansyah.

Sepak takraw

Meanwhile, Indonesia has set itself the tough goal of capturing all four gold medals in sepak takraw at the SEA Games.

Bedu Amang, chairman of the Indonesian Sepak Takraw Association, said in Surabaya on Monday that he was optimistic Indonesia could win the four golds.

"I feel very optimistic that we can capture at least four golds. This was one of the association's targets. Our main threats are from Thailand and Malaysia who are hard to beat," Bedu said after appointing new members to the association's East Java chapter on Monday.

Bedu said the association had 15 men and women in training for the Games.

The association was considering hiring coaches from Thailand and Malaysia for the team.

Bedu said the association had a four-year program, to end in 1999, to encourage the development of sepak takraw in villages.

"We hope sepak takraw in villages will encourage people to set up clubs. This could lead to tournaments between the clubs," Bedu said.

Funds

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Consumers Organization is warning people to be aware of compulsory collections to fund the SEA Games.

The organization said in a statement yesterday that it would do anything to help make the Games a success, but it could not agree with forcing the public to help pay for the Games.

"Levies for the Games must be voluntarily, so the community should not be forced to pay the levies. The institutions collecting the levies should respect the rights of the public and not act on their own," it said. (lnt)