RI to partake in three events in Asiad
JAKARTA (JP): The national sports governing body (KONI) officially confirmed yesterday that Indonesia will partake in badminton, windsurfing and taekwondo in the Asian Games in Hiroshima next October.
The decision was reached after KONI's officials met with the managers of those sports' organizations.
A final announcement regarding Indonesia's participation in Asia's biggest sport extravaganza will take place on Aug. 25 while the names of the athletes will be disclosed on Sept. 2.
"We are quite confident that we can take some medals in these three events," Soeweno, a KONI official, said while adding that he declined to give any concrete projections.
"What is important is that we will only approve those who are likely to win some medals," added Arnold Lisafaly, chair of the national training center.
In the last Asiad in Beijing in 1990, Indonesia came sixth with three golds, six silvers and 21 bronzes.
For the upcoming Hiroshima event, KONI had tentatively planned to send 150 athletes in 15 different sports.
Although Indonesia currently reigns as king of the world badminton scene, a representative from the Indonesian Association of Badminton (PBSI) declined to project how many golds Indonesia will snatch in the Asiad.
"It's too early to say," said Iwan Setiawan.
He also said that PBSI will send an Asiad team made out of 16 shuttlers consisting of eight players in each gender group.
"I can't tell you their names because we are still selecting them," Iwan said.
Windsurfing
KONI was also prepared to disclose the information regarding the three-person Indonesian windsurfing Asiad team yesterday.
The team is made up of Oka Sulaksana and Abdul Malik Faisal for the men's events and Monica Sutanto for women's
Meanwhile, Soegianto, an executive of The Association of Indonesian Sailing Sports (Porlasi), told reporters that he projects Indonesia can gain one gold, one silver and one bronze from windsurfing.
On a separate occasion, Hanafi Saud, an official of the Taekwondo Association of Indonesia, confirmed yesterday that a four-men team will take part in the Asiad.
The team is made up of Lugriandi, Dick Richards, Alfons and Andri Hakim. All of them are currently being trained in South Korea.
During the same occasion, however, KONI also declined to confirm the fate of the 10 women shooting team.
"They will have to wait until the final announcement," said Soeweno.
An official from the Shooting Association of Indonesian (Perbakin), Harianto Soeprapto, declined to elaborate on the exact status of the team.
"We still have to do plenty of reviewing and training," he said. (hdj)