Ruwiyati eyes victory at Malang

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian marathon runner Ruwiyati hopes to win East Java's Malang International Marathon in April.

Alwi Mugiyanto, trainer and manager of the Tiger Lokomotiv Salatiga athletics club, said on Sunday that Ruwiyati is currently training for the event at the Central Javanese towns of Noebong near Salatiga and around nearby Mount Merbabu.

Club member Ruwiyati won the Malang marathon in 1995. She did not take part in the following year's race because of illness.

She won a gold medal in the marathon event at the 1995 SEA Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and will take part in the 25- kilometer race in Manila later this month.

In the Chiang Mai Games, Ruwiyati clocked two hours, 34 minutes and 29.12 seconds, breaking the SEA Games record. She finished faster than Singapore's Yvone Danson Tan, who finished second.

"The Malang race is a warmup for the Jakarta Games," Alwi said as quoted by Antara news agency, referring to the upcoming SEA Games in October.

Ruwiyati said she is hoping to win in Malang and then go on to compete with runners from other Southeast Asian countries in Jakarta.

Alwi said that no indication had so far been provided by either the Indonesian Athletics Association (PASI) or the Indonesian Sports Council (KONI) regarding Ruwiyati's participation in the October games.

"We have not yet received any word, either from PASI or from KONI," he said. "We are hoping that Ruwiyati will be able to take part in the coming SEA Games."

Djoko Pramono, training director for the Jakarta Games, said recently that a decision on Ruwiyati's participation in the coming SEA Games would be made in June, following a physical examination.

"Ruwiyati is suffering from osteoporosis and is undergoing treatment now. Hopefully, she will have recovered by June," Djoko said.

Alwi said he was optimistic that, if Ruwiyati recovers, she will be able to win two golds in the 10,000 meters and marathon events.

"Ruwiyati had only trained intensively for one month before breaking the records at the last Games," he said. "If she passes the physical examination in June, she will be better prepared (this time)," he added. (lnt)