RI women's basketball team prepares for SEA Games

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian women's basketball team has begun preparing for the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, although two players had yet to join the training camp, said the team's manager.

The Indonesian Basketball Association (Perbasi) has called up 18 players who were short-listed from the 2002 women's competition, but Felicia and Vira Angelica are unavailable because of their academic commitments.

"They can't join their teammates as yet because they are preparing for their school examinations," said Noviantika Nasution, the team's manager on Monday.

Felicia of Mahaputri Hanamasa and Vira of Bhinneka Sritex would have been among the six players Perbasi had called to replace the previously invited six, who had failed to respond to the invitation.

However, only four have turned up so far: Tuti Rachmawati (Merah Putih Bank Mandiri), Yanti (Mitra Dwi Warna), Lie Siaw Fei and Linda Rusli (Sahabat Surabaya).

"We are still expecting Felicia and Vira to join when they have finished their school-related tasks," Noviantika said.

The team's head coach, Rastafari Horongbala, said that the number of players would be whittled down to 15 in July. A reduction to a possible 12 could be carried out later, but the plan is not yet fixed, pending the availability of funds.

"We could reduce the players to 12 or stick to 15. If the funds are sufficient, I'd prefer to bring all 15 players to the Games. It would be too dear to cut three of them, when we have already spent a lot of time grooming those talented players," Rastafari said.

The team plans to play two warm-up matches against local teams in August, while time to attend an overseas outing to China and a tentative sparring game in Singapore have already been set aside.

"But we have yet to confirm how long we will stay in China. On the way back through Singapore, we will probably stop by for a friendly game with its national team," Rastafari said.

The 22nd edition of the SEA Games, a biennial sporting showcase for Southeast Asian nations, will be hosted by Hanoi, Vietnam, in December.

The Indonesian women's basketball team will be looking to improve upon its performance at the 2001 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, where it came up with a bronze medal, while their fellow men's team chalked up a silver.