POBSI to hire foreign coach

POBSI to hire foreign coach

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The Indonesian Billiards and Snooker Association (POBSI) plans
to hire a foreign coach to improve the team's medal chances at
this year's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Manila.

"It is part of our effort to win more than one gold medal at
the SEA Games," POBSI chairman Putera Astaman said after signing
a memorandum of understanding with Sampoerna cigarette brand A
Mild here on Friday.

As part of the understanding, A Mild will provide funding to
allow athletes to take part in overseas tournaments and bonuses
for athletes in Manila. A Mild has promised bonuses of Rp 100
million (US$10,500) for any POBSI athlete who wins a gold medal
at the SEA Games.

While no coach has been named, Sampoerna product manager Sendi
Sugiharto said a likely option was Rico "Ricochet" Diks of the
Netherlands.

The 2001 European 9-ball champion has been one of Europe's
top-ranked players for a decade.

Diks visited Indonesia last November at the invitation of A
Mild to host coaching clinics and play exhibition matches with
local players in a number of cities.

Putera said that POBSI planned two international tournaments
for the athletes. One will be the World Games while the other has
yet to be decided.

As part of their preparations for the SEA Games, players will
be required to take part in a physical training regime, which
Putera said was necessary to build their confidence.

POBSI is currently training 16 athletes for the SEA Games.

They are Soewito, Adam Abdurrahim, Jimmy Jusman, Alwi, M.
Zulfikri, Yudharman, Rudi Sulaiman, Bambang Saputra, Sayumin
Teng, Muslim, Hasan Manfaluti, Tan Kiong and James Lengkang in
the men's division; and Angel, Sri Wahyunih and Desak Raka in the
women's division.

Meanwhile, two players from Singapore and one from Malaysia
have confirmed their participation in the fourth series of the
2005 A Mild Billiard, which will run from Sunday to Wednesday.

The players are Chan Keng Kwan (ranked 175th in Asia) and Toh
Lian Han (ranked 141st in Asia) of Singapore, and Malaysian Alan
Tan Kah Tiam (ranked 16th in Asia).

They will be up against a host of local contenders for the
total prize money of Rp 9 million.