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)