RI boxing team gears up for SEA Games
RI boxing team gears up for SEA Games
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's 11-strong boxing team is geared up for the 18th Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand next month.
"Mentally, physically and technically they are more than 80 percent ready for the games," Imron Z.S. said on Wednesday. Imron is executive director of the Indonesian Amateur Boxing Association.
He said that six of his boxers have the best potential to reach the finals. They are middleweight Albert Papilaya, light middleweight Hendrik Simangunsong, featherweight Nemo Bahari, middleweight Pino Bahari, flyweight Rahman Kili-kili and light flyweight La Paene.
Two of the six, Nemo and his brother Pino Bahari, have been given special workouts by their coach and father, Daniel Bahari in their hometown Denpasar, Bali.
Since last week, the Bali-based brothers have been pitted against professional sparring partners from a boxing camp in Surabaya, East Java. They sparred in five, three-minute rounds.
The associations secretary-general, Didiet Soedijoto, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that host Thailand has yet to inform them which round format it will apply in the boxing competition.
The world amateur boxing body plans to replace the old three, two-minute format with one consisting of five rounds, starting from Jan. 1 next year.
Didiet said he heard from his Thai counterpart, Sakchai Tapsuwan, that the Games organizing committee would apply the new format.
The new format was introduced to minimize knock downs in amateur boxing. Statistics shows that referees stop a contest in the third minute.
The National Sports Council sent its advance team, led by Mohammad Sarengat, to Chiang Mai yesterday, to get first-hand information about the format, Didiet said.
Thailand has also re-scheduled the boxing finals from Dec. 16 to Dec. 17, the closing day of the games. "If this is true, our finalists would have a two-day rest, which is beneficial," Didiet said.
Tae kwon do
The Indonesian Tae kwon do Association expects that all 16 athletes it is fielding for the 18th Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, would be able to advance to finals.
"We hope all our athletes can reach the finals," Hanafi Saud, deputy secretary-general of the Indonesian Tae kwon do Association, told The Post on Wednesday. The National Sports Council has set a target of four gold medals from tae kwon do.
Indonesia managed only two golds from female athletes Anis Dewi and Rahmi Kurnia in the 1993 meet in Singapore.
Indonesia's SEA Games-bound tae kwon do team has completed all its scheduled tryouts and is now in its relaxation period prior to the games, coach Bambang Wijanarko said.
The tryouts included the Japan Open and the Vietnam Open. Dasyanto Pribadi took the men's welterweight title for Indonesia in Japan. Indonesia won two gold medals through the women's heavyweight, Anis, and women's bantamweight, Umi Alifah.
Although the results of the tryouts were encouraging, Hanafi said that host athletes will pose a clear danger to Indonesia's gold medal winning attempt in Chiang Mai.
"Thailand's tae kwon do athletes have trained in South Korea longer than ours. I don't know for sure how long, perhaps three months," Hanafi said. "Our athletes trained there for one only month because of financial restraints," he added. (arf)