Pencak silat team leaves for world championship
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)