RI pledge to beat Thais in SEA Games

RI pledge to beat Thais in SEA Games

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will send medal-winning athletes to
the 18th Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai in December, being
determined to defeat host Thailand's fierce challenge for
regional sporting supremacy.

National Sports Council Chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar said,
after installing the new board members of the Indonesian archery
and basketball associations on Monday, that the national team for
the Games in December would be selected according to strict
procedures.

"We have to make sure that the squad we send to the Games can
take more golds than the host team," Wismoyo said. "We don't
intend a repeat of our unpleasant experience ten years ago."

Thailand, which ended Indonesia's run of four straight SEA
Games overall titles in Bangkok in 1985, has said it intends to
win at least 100 gold medals to bring the overall title back home
at the Dec. 9-17 sporting meet.

"Apart from the favorable climate, a fanatical crowd will
provide the Thai athletes with a morale boost as they battle it
out for the glory," Wismoyo predicted.

Indonesia has called up more than 600 sportsmen and women to
enter the centralized training program which is expected to start
this month. Host Thailand will reportedly field a 700-strong
team.

The 18th SEA Games will see competition in 28 sports,
including rugby, a new entry since the biennial sporting
extravaganza was introduced 36 years ago. Around 6,000 athletes
are expected to participate in the Games, vying for a total of
334 gold medals.

Wismoyo said archery remained the field Indonesia could count
on most at the Chiang Mai Games. "By contrast, frankly speaking,
our basketball team is still the underdog," he added.

Indonesia, spearheaded by Hendra Setiawan and Nurfitriyana
Lantang, took all four golds offered in the SEA Games archery
competition two years ago in Singapore. At the same 1993 Games
the Indonesian men's and women's basketball teams managed only a
bronze medal each.

Chief of the Indonesian basketball association, Harmoko,
responding to Wismoyo's concern about the basketball teams'
modest performance, said that his men would improve on their last
performance by winning the silver.

"But our women's cagers won't be far from the bronze they
earned in 1993," said Harmoko, who is also Minister of
Information.

The association called up 18 men's and 18 women's players last
week to join the national training session in Ragunan, South
Jakarta. They will have some overseas stints in Thailand, China
and Japan. (amd)