Perbakin fights for double trap in SEAG

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Shooting and Hunting Association (Perbakin) secretary-general Antony Sunarya said on Tuesday that the body would try to persuade host Malaysia to feature the double trap event in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur in September.

Antony said that Malaysia has ensured the exclusion of the double trap event from shooting in the Games although the event was staged at the previous Games in Brunei Darussalam in 1999.

Indonesia will fight for the chance to have the double trap event staged at the Games during the Asian Clay Shooting Federation meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Jan. 18.

Antony claimed that the desire to have the double trap event staged at the Games was not merely for Indonesia's benefit but also for that of other participating countries including Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand.

"We have to admit that the women's double trap has been a reliable event for Indonesia because in the 1997 Jakarta SEA Games, our athletes earned 11 golds from the event," he said as quoted by Antara.

In 1999, Sarmunah contributed a gold in the women's individual double trap.

Perbakin has been grooming its 16 shooters in several training centers in Java, Bali and Riau in preparation for the 15 events at the Games.

The 16 shooters have received ammunition from Perbakin to support their training. However, the body will stage a selection process to recruit the best shooters to join the centralized training program in Jakarta starting in June.

"We won't send athletes with only slim chances of getting medals at the Games because the biennial event is no longer a trial event. They must show good results in Kuala Lumpur. If necessary, we'll send athletes to compete in four events but they must be capable of bringing home medals," he said.

Antony stated that he would be unable to ensure the achievement of the medals target in the Games if the organizers failed to approve the double trap event.

"We have to fight to get the double trap featured in the Games to enable us to set our medals target," he said. (yan)