RI women's archers qualify for Olympics

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia women archer team comprising Hamdiah, Nurfitriyana and Lusia Elizabeth have qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney in September, according to the rankings from the International Archery Federation (FITA).

The National Sports Council (KONI) official in charge of athletes development, Mochammad Hindarto, said on Friday that Nurfitriyana and Lusia qualified because other countries did not have their archers on FITA's main roster.

Earlier, Nurfitriyana and Lusia were in the 'standby' position as they ranked 14th and 23rd respectively.

Teammate Hamdiah was able to qualify for the quadrennial event after advancing to the quarterfinals of the women's individual competition at the 40th World Archery Tournament in Riom, France, in July.

"Nurfitriyana and Lusia are now in the first and 10th positions. They automatically qualify for the Olympics," Hindarto was quoted by Antara as saying.

He said that Nurfitriyana, who teamed with Kusumawardhani and Lilies Handayani to win the silver medal in the 1998 Olympics in Seoul, and Lusia could also compete in the individual event to decide their world rank.

The three archers are expected to join KONI's centralized training program.

Hindarto insisted that training for the Olympics would begin on Feb. 1 as scheduled although the government and the Gelora Senayan Management Board (BPGS) have not disbursed the funds.

KONI is still waiting for Rp 4.9 billion (US$671,233) from the government and another Rp 2 billion from BPGS to finance the training program.

In addition to some 20 shuttlers, Indonesia has qualified 13 athletes from track and field, swimming, diving, archery, weightlifting, taekwondo and windsurfing to join the squad. (ivy)