RI vows to win SEA Games crown

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian National Sports Council (KONI) reiterated yesterday its goal of retaining the overall championship title at the 18th Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in December.

Meanwhile, Thailand has vowed to land another big blow against arch rival Indonesia.

"We are reluctant to talk about how many gold medals we have to win to secure the overall title. That would only give our athletes a heavy burden psychologically," Arie Sudewo, project officer of the centralized training program for the Games, said after a KONI plenary meeting.

"We have no other target but to win. The number of medals will fully depend on how the competitions progress," Arie, who is also KONI's vice chairman, added.

Thailand has set a gigantic target of 130 gold medals to regain regional sporting supremacy at the event, which will be held between Dec. 9 and Dec. 17. Thailand seized the crown from Indonesia in Bangkok in 1985.

KONI has been grooming no less than 600 athletes since January. They will participate in 26 of the 28 events contested at the Games. Indonesia will pass on rugby, a newcomer to the Games, and on hockey.

Arie said that KONI had completed more than half of its tasks in making a shortlist of national team members. "We will reduce the nominees by 25 percent by Sept. 15 and will form the definite team by Nov. 1," he said.

Nov. 1 is the deadline for all participating countries to inform Games Organizing Committee of their final teams.

Of the 26 sports, only weightlifting and cycling have completed their selections.

Indonesia deployed 400 sportsmen and women to collect 88 golds, 81 silvers and 83 bronzes for the overall title in the 1993 meet in Singapore.

KONI has pledged to field only athletes with great medal- winning prospects. "We fully understand that we face a big nemesis," he said.

"That's why we appreciate (the actions of) Yayuk Basuki, for example, who has confirmed her commitment to join the national team."

Yayuk, ranked 26th in the world, was called up for the Games in order to assure Indonesia of one or two golds from women's tennis, Arie said.

Meanwhile, Imron Z.S., executive chairman of the national amateur boxing body (Pertina), has included the Bahari brothers, Pino and Nemo, in his 18 nominees for the Games.

"They proved they could perform commendably during the President's Cup, despite their only two months of preparations," he said.

Imron added that Pertina has set a target of winning between two and four gold medals for the Indonesian team at the Games. (amd)