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)