RI women's basketball team prepares for SEA Games
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.