Senior and junior tenpin bowlers paired for gold

By Ivy Susanti

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will mate senior and junior tenpin bowlers to win at least two golds from the 12 events in the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei Darussalam next month, after years of not winning a gold medal.

Old faces are dominating the national team, including Femmy Tjahjo, 54, and Yani Ruzgar, 51, in the women's team and Go Tjing-peng, 51, and Donto Nurrachman, 45, in the men's team. They all have experience in local and regional tournaments, including the SEA Games.

This year, the Indonesian Bowling Association (PBI) has included junior players in its SEA Games team, including Ryan Leonard Lalisang in the men's team and Putty Insavilla Armein and Happy A. Dewanti Soediyono in the women's team.

Ryan, 18, paired with Donto in the men's double in the 1997 SEA Games and earned a bronze. Indonesia also grabbed three silvers in the women's individual, women's team of five and men's team of five. Malaysia and Singapore shared five golds each while the Philippines earned two golds.

PBI's official in charge of competition, David Paruhum Sitorus, expressed optimism that Indonesia could win two gold medals in the women's and men's all events, saying the team started practicing earlier this year.

David, one of the SEA Games team members, said Indonesia would face a tough challenge from Paulo Lovaldes of the Philippines in the men's team and Shalin Zukifli and Sarah Yap of Malaysia in the women's team.

"We want two golds in the SEA Games. But we also have to keep our eyes on the Filipino men bowlers and Malaysian and Singaporean women bowlers," he said.

PBI started the training program for tenpin bowlers in January. It held four selection procedures before setting up the national team.

The late Ras Suganda earned gold in the 1985 SEA Games in Bangkok in men's all events. Indonesia has since not won any gold medals.

However, PBI was not able to send a team to compete in overseas tournaments due to a financial shortage.

Only two junior bowlers, Ryan and Putty, were given a chance to take part in the Asian Junior Bowling Championship held from July 19 to July 24 in Singapore.

David, who also trains the junior team, said PBI wanted the young members of the SEA Games team to gain experience in regional competitions, which use similar lanes to those in Brunei Darussalam.

Ryan and Putty both finished in 23rd place. There were 60 participants in the men's individual competition and 40 in the women's.

The bowlers are scheduled to leave for Brunei on Sunday, earlier than the rest of the contingent, because they have to adjust themselves to the different conditions.

Lineup: Men: David Paruhum Sitorus, Donto Nurrachman, Go Tjing-peng, Lie Joe-tjam, Ryan Leonard Lalisang, Taufik Rachman Women: Femmy Tjahjo, Happy Ari Dewanti Soediyono, Inge Nio, Lily Suhaemi, Putty Insavilla Armein, Sri Mulyani Ruzgar