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.