RI riders set to end Japan's domination

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will fight tooth and nail to end Japan's domination in the Second Asian Mountainbiking Championships in Taipei from Nov. 30.

"Japanese riders ruled the roost in last year's event. But we are out to put up a formidable challenge to them in Taipei. Our riders have been training extra hard, with beating the Japanese uppermost in their minds," Didi Soedijanto, the Indonesian Cycling Association's training director, said over the weekend.

He said the nine national riders selected for the meet "had gone from strength to strength" with each training session.

"They had been exposed to a series of intensive and rigorous training sessions and tryouts since early last month. The workouts included weeks of hard drills around heavy and difficult hilly tracks in six provinces," Didi said.

Eight men and a woman will represent Indonesia. They are Amir Mahmud, Ferianto, Feri Sonik, Marta M., Sani W., Soni M. Herianto, Sugianto, Zainal and Riza Susiati, the only female in the squad.

Didi said the riders had also gone through special drills and workouts in Malang, East Java, in preparation for the Asian championships.

He said the championships would give Indonesia a yardstick to gauge how much ground the riders had gained after the weeks of hard training at home. "At the same time we can also use the event to spy on the strengths of our Southeast Asian rivals who we will tackle at the 19th SEA Games next year in Jakarta."

The Indonesian team left for Seoul yesterday.

Didi said the riders and their officials departed early to study the tracks and adjust to the climate. (bas)