Pertina relieved at Willem's reinstatement in Asiad squad

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Willem Papilaya's reinstatement in the Indonesian squad for the Pusan 2002 Asian Games team has brought relief to the national boxing body, Pertina.

"We are glad that Willem is back as part of the team. KONI admitted its mistake," Didit Sudijoto, Pertina's deputy secretary-general, told reporters here on Wednesday.

Willem is one of the seven pugilists Pertina is grooming for the trip to the South Korean port city, where the Asian sporting showcase will take place from Sept. 29 to Oct. 14.

The other six pugilists are Bara Gomies, Bonyx Saweho, Stevie Binalay, Benny Tahumisa, Fernando Samosir and Stenly Kalisaran.

While his fellow boxers passed the recent fitness test, Willem was declared unfit and was eliminated from the squad on Tuesday.

The test was held at Jatiluhur reservoir in Purwakarta, West Java from Jan. 7 to Jan. 13, in which almost all the 171 athletes underwent medical screening to assess whether they were in good enough physical shape for the Asian Games.

Willem was one of the three initially eliminated, as announced by the National Sports Council (KONI) in a media conference on Tuesday, the other two being Tiur Simarmata (rowing) and Andre Sudrajat (cycling).

However, it was just a matter of a few hours before the fate of 26-year-old Willem turned to his favor, with KONI citing an error in its data.

The mistake could have cost Imron Z.S., a KONI official, his position as training director. Only a wise word from his senior Rudolf Warouw, KONI's secretary-general and Asian Games project manager, "blocked" his move.

"I have met Pak Warouw and told him about my mistake in telling reporters there were three athletes eliminated. In fact one succeeded," Imron said, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Imron refused to comment about the matter, when contacted by The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Didiet said that Pertina hailed the abrupt turn in Willem's decision, saying that it was down to KONI's authority to seal the issue.

"I didn't know about it. I learned about KONI's computer error from the newspaper. I can just say that I'm relieved at the correct finding," he said.

Willem, who won a silver medal at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok and a bronze at the Kuala Lumpur 2001 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games last September, will play in the 63.5 kilogram category.

KONI has yet to set a definite target for the Asian Games but emphasizes it should be no fewer than the six gold medals won in Bangkok.