RI granted a place in World Cup boxing

JAKARTA (JP): Thailand has granted a World Cup team slot to one of the two Indonesian boxers who won bronze medals in the King's Cup earlier this week. The World Cup will be held in Beijing in June.

Deputy secretary-general of the Indonesian Amateur Boxing Association (Pertina), Didit Soedijoto, praised Thailand's decision yesterday. He said that the Asia's boxing powerhouse "was not greedy enough to want to send all its best boxers to Beijing."

The Thai team earned 10 places in a World Cup team through an outstanding performance in the King's Cup, held recently in Bangkok. The team delighted home fans by winning 10 out of the 12 gold medals on offer at the tournament.

The World Cup, which runs from June 13 to June 21, will feature boxers from all five continents. Asia will field three teams -- China the hosts, a team of boxers from the former Soviet republics, and a team made up of gold medalists from the King's Cup.

The other four continents will each field two teams.

A panel of selectors set up by the King's Cup organizers will choose between pinweight Damianus Jordan and welterweight Bara Gommies to represent Indonesia in the World Cup.

"I don't know how they will choose between Bara and Damianus. but both will be sent to a training center for the Asian team in Thailand," Didit said.

Both Damianus and Bara were outpointed by Thai opponents in their respective semifinal bouts in the King's Cup on Monday.

Didit said that although the four man Indonesian team managed only two bronze medals, it finished fifth out of 22 participating countries. The tournament organizers used points accumulated to decide the hierarchy, not the number of medals.

"It was a good achievement because we only had three weeks to prepare for the cup," he said.

Damianus and Bara are currently being groomed for the Asian Games to be held in Bangkok in December. They are in training with eight other boxers in Sentul, West Java. (emf)