RI shooters ponder Korea, NZ outings

RI shooters ponder Korea, NZ outings

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With the Asian shooting championship scrapped due to the outbreak
of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Indonesian shooting
hopefuls are aiming for South Korea and New Zealand to try out
their skills ahead of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

"The Asian meet was scheduled to take place in Malaysia in
July. Now we have to go elsewhere as part of the shooters'
overseas outing. It may be the tournaments in Korea or New
Zealand," Anggodo, the deputy training chief, told The Jakarta
Post here on Friday.

Anggodo said the Indonesian Target Shooting Association
(Perbakin) was grooming about 60 participants in 12 events under
Australian head coach Ian M. Halle.

On the list is veteran Sarmunah, who helped earn Indonesia
three of its 35 gold medals on offer in the shooting event at the
2001 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, Yoshi Agusta, one of the participants, said
overseas tournaments would be important to build on their skills
and especially to increase mental stamina.

It even becomes an imperative for the running-target event
Yoshi specializes in.

"We have no tournaments in running-targets here at home
because there are few participants. We are going to have to go
out there to assess what we have gotten out of training," Yoshi,
the 1997 SEA Games gold medalist, said.

"We may get a satisfying score during training, but it doesn't
guarantee a good performance during the tournament. Our shaky
mental stamina can interfere with our concentration," he said.

The next SEA Games in Vietnam will see a return of the running
target being contested for the first time in five years in the
biennial Southeast Asian multi-event showcase. The last time the
event was featured was in the 1997 SEA Games in Jakarta.

The running-target event will have eight gold medals up for
grabs.

Anggodo and Yoshi agreed that while Thailand dominated the
event at the last games, which were in Kuala Lumpur, Vietnam as
the host would be the hot contender this time around.

"Vietnam's shooting has shown rapid progress," Anggodo said.

Perbakin has also hired Bryan Wilson to take charge of the
five men and three women who are participating as running-target
participants.

Wilson, who has been with the team for a month, said the SEA
Games in Vietnam would only serve as the short-term goal of his
training regime.

"The 2008 Olympics is our long-term goal. We have a lot of
work to do and we have a good program for the athletes," Wilson
said, adding that he was optimistic about the progress being made
by all team members.

The SEA Game hopefuls are among the 185 participants competing
in the May 23 to May 25 National Shooting Championship at Senayan
Shooting Range in Central Jakarta.