RI sends 36 athletes to Universiade

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is sending 36 national athletes, part of the team being groomed for the 19th SEA Games here in October, to compete in six of the 10 events at Universiade in Sicily, Italy, from Aug. 19 to Aug. 31.

Indonesia's athletes consist of three gymnasts, eight swimmers, two divers, five track and field athletes, 12 male spikers and six fencers.

The country will not compete in soccer, basketball, water polo and tennis.

Ekodjatmiko Sukarso, secretary-general of the Sports Development Agency for Students, said on Thursday that the athletes will use the Universiade as the last tryout for the Games.

"The Universiade has a different competitive condition compared to other international events. It is like a mini Olympics and hopefully our athletes can learn something," he said.

Ekodjatmiko said all athletes are not given targets because their rivals are very tough. They will use the event as a tryout and for some sports, including volleyball, it will use the event to improve its ranking.

Some athletes who are being groomed abroad, including gymnastics in Bulgaria and Russia, track and field in the U.S and men's volleyball in China, will fly directly to Sicily from their training.

Antara reported that the biennial event will be participated by 6,000 athletes from 170 countries and will take place in Palermo, Catania and Messina. (yan)