RI aims to win 150 golds at 19th SEA Games

RI aims to win 150 golds at 19th SEA Games

JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council (KONI) predicted
yesterday Indonesia could win nearly 150 gold medals at the 19th
Southeast Asian (SEA) Games here in October.

"I don't want say exactly how many medals we're going to win,"
national training director Djoko Pramono said.

At the 1995 Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Indonesia finished
second with 77 golds, 67 silvers and 77 bronzes. Thailand was
first with 157 golds, 98 silvers and 91 bronzes.

The council and 34 sports training directors met on Friday and
concluded that training for the Games, which has been underway
for six months, had increased athletes' fitness and skills.

"We still have four months to jack up our athletes' skills and
performances," he said.

Target

Djoko said council chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar had urged
each sport's training director to meet their target.

"Each sport's estimation must be based on training data, so
they must be right. If the data is rubbish, the estimation will
be rubbish," he said.

Djoko said 16-year-old weightlifter Joko Hanggono could break
the record he set in the clean and jerk at the Junior World
Championships in South Africa early this month.

"I asked his coach if he could still lift more and his coach
said 'yes' based on his increasing training graph," Djoko said.

Djoko is also the Indonesian Weightlifting, Powerlifting and
Bodybuilding Association's secretary-general.

Despite expectations of a big medal haul, some sports
organizations - including hockey and archery - have decreased
their targets.

Djoko said he was disappointed with archery training.

"Firstly, we lack talented archers for international events,
secondly our athletes, especially the women, do not train hard
enough, and lastly, the athletes have failed to reach their
training targets," he said.

Djoko spoke about archer Dahliana's pulling out of the
training.

"She's just married and I can understand if she is homesick.
But she has to realize that she's a national athlete preparing
for a huge event," he said.

The Indonesian Archery Association gave Dahliana's a week off
to return home to East Kalimantan but three weeks has passed and
she has yet to return.

Track and field, indoor volleyball, softball and tennis all
increased their medal targets.

KONI is still expecting tennis star Yayuk Basuki, ranked 31 in
the world, to join the national squad for the Games.

"I understand that she wants to lift her world ranking into
top 20. Whether she can or not, she's still welcome in the team,"
he said.

Djoko refused to comment on the Indonesian Tennis
Association's decision not to include Yayuk in the Federation Cup
team for a tie against Italy on July 12 and July 13 here because
she requested the tie be moved from clay to rebound ace courts.

"I believe Sarwono (the association's chairman) has a good
reason for his decision. Sometimes, athletes only see a problem
from one side. It's an internal problem which should be solved by
the association," he said. (yan)