RI names lifters for world meet
RI names lifters for world meet
JAKARTA (JP): Lifters from the National men's team who failed
to make the trip to Hiroshima's Asian Games last month have been
trained to don the national colors at the world weight lifting
championships in Ankara next week.
The Indonesian Weight Lifting, Power Lifting and Body Building
Association announced yesterday the national squad will comprise
of Herry Setiawan and Lukman, national 54kg and 70kg record
holders respectively, as well as Erwin Abdullah, bronze medalist
in the 59kg division at the world junior weight lifting meet last
July.
The Association's vice secretary, Sinatra Kesaes, told
reporters yesterday the trio have been undergoing months of
rigorous training at their base camp in Bogor, West Java.
"We have not set a target for winning medals in the world
championships. There will be great muscle men from China, Eastern
Europe and Central Asia coming to the meet," said Sinatra.
The National Sports Governing Body dropped the Association's
proposal to include men lifters in the national squad for Asiad.
The governing body, instead, picked five women lifters, saying
that the muscle women had a greater chance to win medals.
West Javanese Fatmawati gave Indonesia its lone medal in Asiad
weight lifting competitions when she took a bronze in the 54kg
category.
Chinese lifters swept all nine gold medals in the Asiad
women's weight lifting event, but they had to share the pride in
the men's division with Kazakhstan and South Korea.
Indonesia has never won a medal in the world championships
since the inaugural meet in 1975. Bulgaria took the overall
championship title last year in Melbourne, Australia.
The International Weight Lifting Body introduced new weight
division in 1993 in an attempt to clean up the sport because the
old world records were associated with illegal drug use.
Sinatra said the national championships will be held next
month in Bekasi, West Java. Top lifters from Indonesia's 27
provinces are expected to turn up for the annual meet which will
serve also as the selection ground for the national weight
lifting squad for the 1995 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Chiang
Mai, Thailand. (amd)