RI to send martial team to S. Korea

RI to send martial team to S. Korea

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's 16-strong taekwondo team is
scheduled to undergo a two-month training stint in South Korea
for the 18th Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

"They will train there in June and July," Daniel Makes of the
Indonesian Taekwondo Association told reporters on Monday.

The Korea-bound member team will be selected from 29 athletes
now being groomed at the national training center.

Following a series of rigorous training sessions in South
Korea, the home to one of the world's powerhouses in the martial
art, the association will also send them to the Taekwondo World
Championship in Manila, slated for Nov. 15-21.

"Fielding junior athletes for such an event would be very
risky, " Daniel said. He acknowledged, however, that the time
interval between the world championship and the Chiang Mai Games,
slated for Dec. 9-17, is short and thus the athletes will have to
be chosen carefully.

Daniel admitted that it would be very hard for the national
team to get medals at the SEA Games. Thailand and the Philippines
are the two teams to watch and they are tough challengers, Daniel
said. Without belittling Thailand, Daniel believes that his team
should watch out for the Filipino team in particular because "it
is technically better".

He lastly expressed hope that his team would at least earn two
gold medals as it did at the last SEA Games in Singapore in 1993.
(arf)