SEA Games teams warm up in junior event
SEA Games teams warm up in junior event
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Track and Field Association gave
the nod yesterday to 10 runners groomed for the 18th Southeast
Asian Games to enter the national junior championships at the end
of this month.
The 10 athletes, aged under 20 years old, will only be allowed
to compete in one event each at the annual tournament held here
just two weeks before the SEA Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
"It is just a low-key competition in which they need to
observe their physical and mental preparedness for the Games,"
the championships' committee chairman, Gurmilang Kartasasmita,
said.
Asian Championships double silver medalist in women's 5000-
meter and 10,000-meter, Tri Asih Handayani, is among the SEA
Games runners who have confirmed their entry at the junior meet.
The association's SEA Games project officer, Pieter Noya,
agreed with Gurmilang, saying that the championships will serve
as the final checking of his male and female trainees prior to
the Games, slated for Dec. 9 to 17.
"Their participation in the junior championships will not
adversely affect our program set for them," Noya said. He also
guaranteed that his runners would not risk injury during the
three-day track and field meet.
The association has picked 44 men's and women's athletes for
the Games. Noya said that the rest of the team would continue
their training program.
Indonesia is setting its sights on 15 gold medals at the SEA
Games track and field competitions.
The junior championships will parade more than 300 athletes
from the country's 27 provinces. A talent scouting team formed by
the association expects to pick athletes to be groomed for the
6th World Junior Championships in Sydney and the ASEAN school
championships here. Both events will be held in August next year.
Golf
Meanwhile, Indonesia's two best men's golfers, Sukamdi and
Denny Supriadi, will gear up for their SEA Games campaign in the
Hong Kong Open, scheduled for next week.
"The tournament will be very good for the two boys to gain
experience and exposure to some world-class professional golfers.
Certainly, they can learn a lot from the tournament," Filipino
coach Paterno Brasa told visiting chairman of the National Sports
Council Wismoyo Arismunandar at Pondok Indah golf course
yesterday.
Denny will defend his title in the amateur division. Sukamdi
was invited for his victory in the Tunku Abdul Rachman Putra Cup
amateur tournament in Kuala Lumpur in September. The 32-year-old
champion carded 276 twelve under par to break the old course
record of 277 set by Preecha Senaprom of Thailand in the 1991
meet in Thailand.
Sukamdi and Denny spurred the Indonesian SEA Games team of
four to finish third behind the Philippines and Malaysia in Kuala
Lumpur. The Indonesians finished above Thailand.
Brasa, who has been coaching the national golf team since
June, said that the participation of the two ace golfers would
not play havoc with their SEA Games training programs.
The SEA Games golf competition offers four gold medals from
men's and women's divisions. Two golds are at stake in the team
events and the other two in the individual events.
Indonesia is eying two golf gold medals in Chiang Mai. It
grabbed two bronzes from its men's golfers in the 17th SEA Games
in Singapore two years ago. (arf/amd)