RI women's archery team to tune-up in Slovenia
RI women's archery team to tune-up in Slovenia
JAKARTA (JP): The 25th Target Outdoor Archery Championships of Europe and the Mediterranean in Kranjskagora, Slovenia, from June 17 to June 23, will serve as the final tune-up for the Indonesian team prior to the Olympic Games.
Coach Daniel Lumalesil told The Jakarta Post yesterday that from Slovenia, the women's team will fly directly to Atlanta, Georgia, to take part in the Olympics, scheduled for July 19 to Aug. 4.
Indonesia arranged the Slovenian outing in place of the Atlanta Grand Prix, a test tournament for the Olympics, starting today, after learning that the country's top female archers -- Nurfitriyana Saiman Lantang, Dahliana and Hamdiah Damanhuri -- are presently at a low ebb.
"They have been worn-out mentally and physically after taking part in too many tournaments this year," said Daniel.
After winning the bronze medal at the world championships in August here last year, the three donned the national colors in the 18th Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where they managed only the team gold.
Then in January they had to represent their respective provinces in a national championship which serves as a qualifying round for the 14th National Games in September. In February the three were sent to the Asian Archery Championships in Bangkok, where all of them crashed out in the quarterfinals.
Daniel said the trio have prepared for the Olympics since March 1 together with fellow senior archer, Purnama Pandiangan, and two juniors, Elizabeth Sumampouw and Suhartini. Their centralized training regime will end in June.
The world archery body FITA lists the Olympics Games participants by country, not by name. Therefore, even though Nurfitriyana, Dahliana and Hamdiah have better records than many others, they won't be sent to Atlanta if they don't show convincing performances in the near future. Each country is entitled to only three archers in Atlanta.
The Olympics archery knock-out competition requires 64 female archers to hit a 70-meter target in 12 series, in each of which they have to shoot six arrows. (arf)