RI completing SEA Games team line-up
RI completing SEA Games team line-up
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian National Sports Council (KONI) is completing its final selection for the 18th Southeast Asian Games, after receiving the names of 455 athletes yesterday.
The council is now waiting for the Indonesian Judo Association to submit the number of its athletes who are eligible for the Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in December.
"We hope to hear their final decision on Thursday," an official at KONI, Doddy Suwandi, said.
The association has delayed submitting its team line-up, saying that it needs time to evaluate the performance of its athletes during their recent final tryouts. The judo team of 20 returned home from their overseas stint in South Korea, Japan and Chinese Taipei over the weekend.
Doddy also noted the oversized soccer team announced by the All-Indonesia Soccer Federation (PSSI), which listed 20 booters instead of the 18 required in international competitions.
The quota ruling applies to the World Cup, Asian Games and even the Olympic Games.
Dody said host Thailand might have made some exceptions to the rule. "I don't know for sure, but I have heard that Thailand made it possible for booters' names to be submitted within six hours prior to the competition," Doddy said.
Apparently the PSSI has been having difficulty in selecting the booters, he added.
The PSSI was not available for comment yesterday. Its SEA Games-bound team, which consists of 20 booters, left for Beijing on Sunday for a friendly match against China's Olympic Games team, scheduled for Wednesday.
Doddy said there was also a discrepancy on the name list for the cycling team. The Indonesian Cycling team mistakenly included an official's name, Didi Sedijanto, among its team members, he said.
National SEA Games cycling team manager Sofyan Ruzian told The Jakarta Post that Didi's inclusion on the list was a printing error. "Didi is one of our officials. So we are going to send only 19 athletes," he said.
The association's SEA Games-bound cyclists have been in Australia for tryouts and training since Sept. 3. They will be back home on Nov. 29.
In the Oceania Games in Townsville, which started on Sept. 16, they gave impressive performances. In the games' first division, Nurhayati won the gold medal in the women's 10 kilometer scratch race and Herijanto Setjawan the bronze medal in the men's 40km point race.
In the second division, Teguh Eko Pambudi won the men's 4,000 meter individual pursuit, Andre Sudradjat won the men's 200m sprint and Henri Setijawan won the men's 50km international time trial.
The first division featured competitions against Australia and New Zealand, while the second division featured competitions against Southeast Asian countries only.
In addition, the SEA Games-bound cyclists are also there for training at the Adelaide Institute of Sport. They are training under the supervision of cycling consultant Shane Bannan, who coached them earlier in the year in Jakarta. (arf)
Indonesia's SEA Games team: 1. archery 8 2. badminton 16 3. basketball 24 4. billiard and snooker 16 5. bowling 12 6. boxing 11 7. cycling 19 8. aquatic sports 37 (swimming 17, diving 7, water polo 13) 9. equestrian events 9 10. fencing 20 11. golf 7 12. gymnastics 18 13. judo 20 (to be confirmed) 14. pencak silat 15 15. rowing 40 16. sepak takraw 12 17. shooting 20 18. soccer 20 19. squash 9 20. table tennis 9 21. tae kwon do 16 22. tennis 8 23. track and field 44 24. volleyball 24 25. weight lifting 24 26. yachting 17