Rp 200m offered for gold medalist
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Table Tennis Association (PTMSI) is offering Rp 200 million (US$23,500) in cash for any table tennis player who can win a gold medal at the 22nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
"The bonuses will be provided only for gold medalists," Dedi K. Wikanta told a media conference here on Friday.
Dedi said the promises were a clear sign of the association's appreciation of the players, who had trained hard in their overseas camp in Pyongyang, North Korea, and were expected to motivate them further to excel their efforts at the SEA Games.
The 22nd SEA Games will be staged from Dec. 5 to 13 in Vietnam.
The Indonesian table tennis body has prepared nine athletes, eight of whom, five men and three women, have been training in Pyongyang since July.
They are Ismu Harinto, David Jacob, Jaenuddin, Yon Mardiono, Reno Handoyo, Christine, Nilasari and Septi Diah.
One other -- Lindawati -- is in Beijing.
"They were battling against the freezing weather of Pyongyang during their workouts. Hopefully, it will have built character for and prepared them for Vietnam," Dedi said.
He said the team, which is under the coaching duo of Pak Yong- nam and Li Song-gil, displayed an encouraging performance during their participation in the China Open last September.
Speaking about the medal prospects in Vietnam, Dedi said that while the team would pose equal chances in the men's field they would push their women's contenders to shoot for gold in the doubles given the current regional strength map that Singapore, with its three Chinese migrants on the squad, would be definitely tough to beat in the singles.
"They (three Chinese-Singaporeans) are almost invincible. We will be trying to fight it out in the doubles," he said, adding that Malaysian and Thai women would be other strong rivals.
"Thailand is also strong in the men's along with host Vietnam," he said.
In the Malaysian SEA Games two years ago, Indonesia only brought home two golds and three silvers. Singapore swept five of seven golds on offer with Thailand and Vietnam taking one each.