RI silat team out to play better in next world c'ship

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian pencak silat team is out to make amends for its poor results in the Brunei Darussalam 1999 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games when it hosts the sport's world championships next month.

Head of the Indonesian Pencak Silat Association's (IPSI) foreign affairs officer Oyong Karmayudha said on Thursday the national team has set its sights on emerging as the overall champion in the world meet, scheduled to take place at the Pencak Silat Center in the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah complex, East Jakarta, from Nov. 14 through Nov. 19.

"IPSI has set the target of topping the medals table in the championships after the miserable results in Brunei," Oyong said.

There are 62 athletes now being groomed at the Pencak Silat Center for the championships. But only 28 of them, according to Oyong, will make the national team line-up for the world meet.

The event will have 21 gold medals up for grabs in 15 fighting and six martial arts events.

As of Thursday some 300 athletes from 25 countries have confirmed their entry. They include neighboring member countries of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany, Turkey, the U.S., and Suriname.

The traditional martial art will make an Asian Games debut in Pusan, South Korea in 2002 as an exhibition event. But Oyong said there was a good chance of it being included as a medal event in 2006, especially if Malaysia wins its bid to host the continent's sporting event.

Oyong said South Korea would send a non-participating team to Jakarta, marking its first appearance in the world championships.

"South Korea's presence is expected to help pencak silat win a place among medal events in the future Asian Games," said Oyong.

He said Indonesia remains the strongest pencak silat power in the world, although several countries, particularly Vietnam and certain European teams, have emerged potential contenders to threaten Indonesia's stranglehold.

"Whether they like it or not, we are now on top although we can't dominate the sport forever. It's just like Japan which dominates judo and karate and South Korea with its tae kwon do," he said.

However, Oyong said, Indonesia does not take such threats too seriously as long the sport is played across the globe.

"Why do we have to worry about these threats? On the contrary, it should give us a pride if we see other countries rapidly improving their performance in the sport," he said. (nvn)