RI cautious of European 'pencak silat' athletes

JAKARTA (JP): A national coach has warned that Indonesia should be cautious on the strength of the European pencak silat athletes in the coming World Cup championship in Kuala Lumpur, April 23-30.

Puji Hartono said Wednesday that silat athletes from Germany and the Netherlands are powerful and need to be watched in the Kuala Lumpur championship.

"Pencak silat is no longer in the hands of Indonesia but has spread to other countries, including Europe. Most European countries are seriously studying the pencak silat techniques. We have to be cautious of them," Puji said as quoted by Antara.

Puji said besides Germany and the Netherlands, Thailand, Vietnam and host Malaysia are seeking to overtake Indonesia as the overall champion in the 1992 championship in Jakarta.

"Actually our target to grab medals is the SEA Games in October. But with the coming World Cup championship, we have to change our training programs by speeding up the physical training," Puji said.

Indonesia will send 44 pencak silat athletes to Kuala Lumpur. The athletes have been divided into 30 for the medal-winning sport events and 14 for the martial arts. The athletes will be accompanied by four coaches and team manager Jan A. Pandey.

Indonesian athletes to compete at the World Cup include M. Asdar, Imanuel Daundi, Edhi Prabowo, Edwin Rungkat, Ika Lesmana, Tulus Pribadi, Rina Dwiastuti and Haris Firmansyah.

Puji said no target had been set for the World Games since Indonesia considered this event a warm up for the Jakarta Games.

"The World Cup is only a warm up and we will not send all our top athletes. We have to keep our strength for the SEA Games," Puji said.

According to the coach, after the World Cup, there will be an progress evaluation. "The athletes will continue training and will conduct a number of trial matches in the regions." (lnt)