RI tae kwon do athletes still chasing Vietnam

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Indonesian woman tae won do athlete Amalia Kurniasih bowed on the mat, appearing relieved and jubilant at her hard-earned victory over favorite M. Maria Estela B. of the Philippines.

Amalia won the heavyweight final on Sunday at the two-day 7th LG ASEAN Tae Kwon Do Championship in Yogyakarta.

Following the match, the fighter was immediately mobbed by fellow athletes, fans and team officials who rushed onto the mat to share the rare Indonesian victory in a tournament that was dominated by Vietnam.

Amalia contributed one of only two golds for the host country, preventing an outright humiliation on home turf; the other was claimed by men's bantamweight athlete Derry Darmansyah.

The Vietnamese delegation put on a mighty show, grabbing a dozen of the 16 gold medals on offer and leaving not only Indonesia, but also the Philippines and Malaysia to mull future strategies in overcoming their tough rival.

The Philippines and Malaysia took one gold each, while Cambodia, Myanmar, Singapore and Timor Leste came up empty.

While Thailand would have been a serious contender, it had opted out of the championship, along with Laos and Brunei Darussalam.

Indonesia fielded 30 fighters in the biennial championship, with seven athletes making it to the finals. However, only two of them emerged triumphant against their foes, with the rest falling apart, mostly at the hands of Vietnamese fighters.

The absence of top fighters Satrio Rahardani and Juana Wangsa Putri, who bowed out due to illness, may have also contributed to Indonesia's poor medal tally.

The Indonesian Tae Kwon Do Association (TI), however, accepted the overall result, saying that Vietnam had sent their best.

Indonesian head coach Oh Il-nam asserted that the two golds were a fair reflection of the athletes' preparation for the tournament, which was organized by their respective provinces. In addition, he suggested that the Ramadhan fasting month and Idul Fitri may have influenced their training.

"Besides, Indonesian fighters still have a habit of practicing only when they are up for a competition instead of keeping to a daily workout," he said.

Philippines' team manager Stephen Estanislao Artemio Fernandez was disappointed with the delegation's single gold medal, but said the team was upbeat about future challenges.

"Next year, we will form a new team with more experienced athletes to provide a more serious challenge to Vietnam in the SEA Games," he said, referring to the 2005 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, which will be hosted by the Philippines.

The SEA Games will feature about 30 events, including tae kwon do.

"We also plan to practice in Korea for about a month," Fernandez said.

Indonesia will also turn to Korea, tae kwon do's country of origin, in pursuit of a more organized training regime.

"We will draw up a plan for the athletes to attend a training camp in (South) Korea ... therefore, we are still optimistic about our chances for winning golds at the SEA Games."

Vietnam head coach Nguyen Dang Khanh attributed the team's success to their hard work, including a training camp in Iran.

"We have many national tae kwon do competitions. This is to ensure that the fighters hone their skills constantly," Khanh said.

The Vietnamese team will also be sending their athletes to South Korea ahead of the next SEA Games.

"We aim to win many golds at the SEA Games and also at the ASEAN Games," he said. The ASEAN Games 2006 will be hosted by Qatar.