RI eyes second best in SEAG standings

RI eyes second best in SEAG standings

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 golds,
to finished 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 the champion Indonesia.

Indonesia dominated the SEA Games in 1980s and early 1990s,
surpassing Thailand. 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.