Persani names gymnasts for Romania outing
Persani names gymnasts for Romania outing
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Gymnastics Association (Persani) identified on
Wednesday the 10 gymnasts who will travel to Romania for a two-
year training program meant to prepare them for the next
Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
The Indonesian gymnasts include M. Tri Saputra, 13, of Riau,
Melyusi Adeputra, 17, of Lampung, Pramu Nur Imam, 18, of East
Java, and Endriadi, 21, of Jakarta, in the men's artistic
category; Dewi Prahara, 19, of Riau, Nefi Nurbaeti, 11, of
Jakarta, and Riri Wulandari, 16, of West Sumatra, in the women's
artistic category; Windi Yofilia, 15, of Jambi, Cici Mitasari,
18, of Jakarta, and Natalia, 17, of Jakarta, in the women's
rhythmic category.
The gymnasts will depart later this month, accompanied by
coaches Djefri Mutik Butarbutar, Biasworo Adi Suyanto, Yochi
Rusandi and Yulia Ros.
"With the training camp in Romania, we expect the gymnasts to
double their gold medal collection at the 2005 SEA Games,"
Persani secretary-general Asep Sulaeman said on Wednesday.
The next SEA Games, a biennial multievent sporting showcase
featuring the 11 Southeast Asian nations, will be hosted by the
Philippines. The Indonesian gymnastics squad brought home two
golds at the last SEA Games in Vietnam.
Gymnastics is not included in the Indonesian Awakens (IA)
program, which was set up to increase the country's medal haul at
the 2006 Asian Games in Qatar.
"For the 2006 Asian Games, it is still hard to compete against
more experienced countries like China and Japan. We will be
content with bronzes," Asep said.
At the last Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, in 2002,
Jonathan Sianturi was the only Indonesian gymnast in competition
and ended up in fifth place.
Its two-gold haul at the last SEA Games demonstrated how far
behind Indonesian gymnasts had fallen behind their regional
rivals from Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, all of which took
home more golds.
Asep said Romania had been chosen for the training program
because of its status as one of the world's top countries in
gymnastics.
He said traveling to Romania for the program made more sense
than bringing in Romanian coaches to Indonesia.
"Our athletes will have the chance to watch, learn and
practice with world-class gymnasts from Romania," he said.
Coach Djefri said he had already prepared practice sessions
and modules for the 10 gymnasts.
"We will discuss our plans with the coaches in Romania to
determine the final training modules," he said.
"Besides the training in Romania, we also plan to send several
of the gymnasts to the Junior Asian Championship in Qatar in
February. We also plan to send some to participate in an
international senior competition in Germany next March, and a
competition in Romania in April," Djefri said.