Purnama misses Asian archery c'ship

Purnama misses Asian archery c'ship

JAKARTA (JP): Injury will prevent leading women's archer Purnama Pandiangan from competing at the Asian Archery championships in Bangkok from Feb. 24 to Feb. 29.

"She injured her hip during the selection camp and is still undergoing treatment. Purnama said she will be called by the Indonesian Archery Association to prepare herself for the Olympic Games," Martubi Makki, chairman of the Lampung archery association office, told Antara yesterday.

Martubi said the injury cost Purnama a match against teammate Elisabeth and put her in last place. She still has a chance to participate in the Olympic training program. The training camp is scheduled to begin on March 3.

The Suara Pembaruan afternoon daily reported that the national team has arranged to take part in the Asian championships, which is also a qualifying round for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Nurfitriyana Saiman Lantang, Hamdiah, Dahliana and Elisabeth have been picked for the team.

Edo Rahantoknam, secretary-general of the archery association, said that Purnama's failure to achieve the targeted score was acceptable because she joined the training program only in January.

"We anticipated that Purnama would not be able to take part in the Asian championships. But we'll prepare her for another championship in April," he said.

Edo said male archers Hendra Setiawan, Syafrudin Mawi, Dito Rembran and Wahyu have been picked to represent the country at the championships.

"We hope the male team wins the championship. What surprised us most is that Syafrudin's ranking has improved," he said.

Edo said the other archers that took part in the training program will be rested during the championships. The camp will start again at the beginning of March.

The women's team aims to maintain its Asian ranking and the male team is shooting for an Olympic berth, Edo said. (05)