RI eyes second best in SEA Games

Moch. N. Kurniawan The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The National Sports Council (KONI) acknowledged on Thursday that its athletes would be in a three-way contest for second place with Vietnam and host Philippines at the 23rd Southeast Asia (SEA) Games in November.

KONI head of development affairs Djoko Pramono said the country's chance of winning the regional event over regional powerhouse Thailand was slim due to poor sports development in recent years.

"Thailand will still be above other countries in the region because it has a good sports program," he said. "Therefore, Indonesia will compete with defending champion Vietnam and the Philippines for second place."

He added that Vietnam, which finished atop the medal standings when it hosted the 2003 SEA Games, may not repeat this year because many of its previous medals came in sports such as karate and pencak silat which were dependent on judges' decisions.

"But Vietnam may not drop too far from the top position as their athletes are good," Djoko said.

In 2003, Indonesia won more than 200 medals, including 55 golds, to finish third behind Vietnam and Thailand.

The host country would fight hard to do its best before a home crowd, he added, and could pose a serious threat for second place.

When the Philippines last hosted the 1991 SEA Games, it finished second behind Indonesia.

Indonesia dominated the SEA Games in 1980s and early 1990s. It last triumphed in the overall standings in Jakarta in 1997.

The region-wide economic crisis of the late 1990s has been blamed for poor sports development here. Two sports hit hardest during the crisis -- athletics and swimming -- are also two in which Indonesia traditionally excelled. They offer many medals at the SEA Games, including 88 in the Philippines.

Djoko emphasized that only athletes with a chance of winning medals would be sent to compete.

"We will send some 500 athletes, after dropping athletes who did not perform well in training. So we hope all of those athletes will win medals although some of them will compete in team events," he said.

Seven members of the national athletics team were dropped from training on Wednesday due to poor training results.