SEAG basketball teams to warm up in Australia
SEAG basketball teams to warm up in Australia
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian basketball players leave for Australia today for their final tune-up before entering the 18th Southeast Asian Games in December.
"We want to adjust ourselves by playing against towering opponents during the outing," coach Bambang Hermansyah said yesterday.
Bambang appeared to be referring to the Philippines whose players are taller than the Indonesian team members. The Philippines is expected to parade its professional cagers in an effort to retain the SEA Games men's basketball title.
The SEA Games will take place in Chiang Mai, Thailand from Dec. 9 to 17.
Bambang's men will compete in a basketball tournament in Canberra from Nov. 4 to Nov. 5. Institute Australia, Black America and an academy in Canberra are among the tournament's participants.
The Indonesian women's players will take on some of Canberra's strongest teams. On Nov. 6, both the women's and the men's teams will challenge a mixed team from the Australian Basketball League and lock horns with Central Coast Cavaliers.
On Nov. 7, they will take on a mixed team from Bathurst. On Nov. 8, they will visit the Australian Basketball Federation to discuss the tryout's results.
The national SEA Games basketball teams consist of 12 cagers each. The men's team is made up of A.F. Rinaldo, Felix Bendatu, Romy Chandra, Moch. Rifki, Victor Roring, Ali Budimansyah, Tri Adnyana, Rani Kristiono, I Made Sudiadnyana, Suko Daryono, Ocky Tamtelahitu and Sujudi.
The women's team comprises Merciana Anggani, Susana, Herlani Theresia, Tuti Gunawan, Joan Suryana, Grace Sondakh, Jinaryati Joesoef, Lili Indahwati, Vivi Puspasari, Lim Bing Tjoe, Jouwaty Joesoef and Lili Chandra.
Indonesia has set its eyes on the men's silver and the women's bronze in the SEA Games basketball competition.
Track and field
Meanwhile, President of the Asian Athletic Association, Mohammad Hasan, said on Tuesday that two IAAF officials would supervise all the track and field competitions at the SEA Games.
"We just want to guarantee that the competition will run fairly," said Hasan, who also chairs the Indonesian Track and Field Association.
The two officials from the world track and field body are Maurice R. Nicholas from Singapore and Lou Dapeng of China. They are also included in the Hasan-led Asian Athletic Association's administration for the 1995 to 1999 period.
Indonesian Track and Field Association disclosed a 50-strong team for the December's Games on Tuesday night, following a consultative meeting with Moh. Sarengat, a former national top sprinter and the deputy training director of the National Sports Council.
Track and field coach Pieter Noya said that the fifty were selected because of their chances of taking at least bronze medals at the Games.
The association has set a target of 15 gold, 17 silver and 18 bronze medals at the Games.
The selection period ranged from the Asian Games in Hiroshima in November last year to the Asian track and field championships here in September.
Noya said the National Sports Council would decide the actual number of his team, but Sarengat has returned the job to the track and field body.
"We hope to hear their final decision on this by Friday," Sarengat said yesterday. "As far as I know, they are still selecting athletes," he added. (arf)