Rossy secures second straight Olympic berth

Rossy secures second straight Olympic berth

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's table tennis queen Rossy Pratiwi
Dipoyanti assured herself of a place in the Atlanta Olympic Games
in July after playing two matches in the Asian zone qualifying
round in Chiba, Japan on Tuesday.

Rossy finished second in Group A behind Liu Wei of China with
a break-even 1-1 record, but it was enough to give the Southeast
Asian Games gold medalist her second straight Olympic berth. She
made her Olympic debut in Barcelona four years ago.

Outgoing training director of the Indonesian Table Tennis
Association, Noeryanto, said yesterday that Rossy qualified for
Atlanta as Southeast Asia's representative.

"It is one of positive policies from the world table tennis
body ITTF to boost the sport worldwide," Noeryanto said.

There are eight women's singles from Southeast Asian
countries, including three Indonesians, playing in the qualifying
zone now underway, with Rossy the only one to reach the group of
16.

Only seven women's and seven men's players will make it to the
Atlanta Olympics.

North Korea, making a return to the Olympics after a long
seclusion, secured on Tuesday two places in the men's event.
Taiwan took two in the women's event, and Hong Kong grabbed one
in the men's event.

Indonesia opened up a chance to win a berth from the men's
event as Southeast Asian representative after Anton Suseno
cruised to the playoff for 9-16 places. He will be vying for the
coveted berth against Vu Manh Cuong of Vietnam.

Noeryanto said that Indonesia has set its sight on winning two
Olympic berths, "although it will be very difficult for us to
keep up with our rivals in the Olympics."

Indonesia earned three Olympic berths through Rossy, her
fellow women's singles Lingling Agustin and Anton in 1992.

"We dared not set a target of taking more than two berths, due
to the presence of North Korea," Noeryanto said.

It was North Korea's first appearance in international table
tennis competition since the 1993 world championships. The
country had shunned international sporting events since mid-1993
and became the last of 197 national Olympic committees to line up
for the Atlanta Games.

Noeryanto said that his Atlanta-bound players will undergo a
centralized training session here, but the detailed program will
be up to newly elected chairperson of the table tennis body Siti
Hedianti Prabowo.

Hedianti, President Soeharto's daughter, was named the new
leader last month in place of Ali Said and is expected to
announce her cabinet later this month.

Noeryanto said that a foreign coach looks necessary in
Indonesia's bid in Atlanta. "I have put it forward to the
chairperson," he said. (amd)