Rift hits Indonesian hockey team before SEA Games

JAKARTA (JP): With only two months to go before the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, the Indonesian hockey team is still experiencing trouble preparing itself, with a dispute between the Indonesian Hockey Association (PHSI) and its Jakarta branch.

PHSI chairman Primadi Tabrani, who was just installed on Friday, told reporters that the team had not been able to practice on the synthetic carpet court in Senayan.

"The court has been rented by the Jakarta chapter. We'll talk to the Gelora Senayan executive directors to give us the privilege to use the court," he said.

"In the SEA Games in Brunei, we'll compete on a similar court. If we don't train there, we may not be able to meet our target to finish in the top three."

Primadi said if he could not solve the problem soon, 36 men's and women's athletes would go to Lampung for physical training there.

"As soon as we can solve the dispute, we'll call them back here to train on the carpet," he said.

The dispute occurred in the PHSI national congress in March, when several provincial branches urged Rajkumar Singh, the chairman at that time, to step down. Singh had chaired PHSI since 1982.

The congress gave authority to Singh to install new officials in the organization. The decision was protested by provincial chapters, but KONI recognized it as the official body.

Primadi said he would ask his coaches to pay more attention to athletes' physical condition, saying that was the main factor in Indonesia's failure in the 1997 SEA Games here.

"We still have two months to improve their physical condition and combine the training with technical skills," he said, adding that he has requested help from KONI.

Primadi said that due to the limited budget, PHSI would likely not hire a foreign coach.

"But if we get financial help, we'll probably hire a Malaysian coach," he said.

Indonesia won a bronze with its men's team in the last SEA Games, while the women's team did not win a medal.

Two years ago, PHSI sparked controversy by requesting that KONI build a new synthetic carpet court, which cost KONI and the SEA Games consortium Rp 1 billion (US$123,500).

Primadi will serve as the chairman until 2003. He will be assisted by secretary Masturoh, treasurer Lasmono and Alex Tendean, the official in charge of athlete development. (yan)