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)