RI aims to win dragon boat c'ships

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia has set its sights on winning the Second World Dragon Boat Championship on the Shing Mun River in Hong Kong from June 4 to June 6.

The Indonesian Rowing Association chairman, Basoeki, said yesterday that Indonesia's men's team was optimistic it could win the 250 meter and 1,000 meter races.

"But it maybe hard to win the men's 500 meter event," he said.

"For the women's team, I don't expect too much because the toughest will be China," he said.

Indonesia's male rowers won two silvers and one bronze at the first championship in Yue Yang, China, two years ago, coming second to China.

Indonesia will send 64 male and female athletes to the championship, which will be aired by SCTV on June 21 at 11 a.m.

The world championship is the most prestigious dragon boat event.

The championship will be staged before the annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival International Races, which will be on June 6 and June 7.

Indonesia won the Victoria Cup after winning the Melbourne International Dragon Boat Race while the women's and the mixed teams won silvers earlier this month.

Basoeki said the team would compete at the Merlion Cup in Singapore on May 31 and June 1 before flying to Hong Kong.

"If we win the world championship, we must be able to sweep the golds at the 19th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games," he said.

Indonesia made a clean sweep at the last Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, when it won all seven golds.

This year, rowing offers 31 golds consisting of 12 golds from canoeing, 11 golds from rowing and eight golds from traditional boat race or dragon race.

Indonesia is aiming to win 24 of the 31 golds up for grabs but Myanmar is expected to be tough competition.

"The team for the world championship is not the main team for the SEA Games because some of them are kayak athletes," he said. "There will be a series of selections to pick the right men for the boat."

Another 25-man team will go to Penang, Malaysia for the International Dragon Boat Races from May 31 to June 1.

PT HM Sampoerna's brand manager, Jeffrey Chandra, said his company had started sponsoring the Indonesian team at international events.

"Since this is the first sponsorship, we'll have to look at the results and discuss future cooperation, especially in terms of sponsoring the women's team. We are also committed to helping the association buy equipment," he said. (yan)