Shenny set for three int'l events before Olympics

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian women's platform diver Shenny Ratna Amelia is scheduled to compete in three international events and the 15th National Games (PON) before having an overseas stint in Beijing in July.

Shenny will compete in the Pacific School Games in Melbourne at the end of April, the Diving Grand Prix series in Xian City, China from May 28 to May 30 and in Hong Kong from June 2 to June 4. She will also compete in PON in Surabaya from June 19 to June 30.

Coach Harly Ramayani said those events would serve to warm her up prior to the Olympic Games in Sydney in September.

"I insisted that she compete in the Grand Prix series because many world-class divers will be attracted to the event. It's a great chance for her to check out her competition and see how she ranks in the world."

"She also needs to compete in PON to learn how to handle pressure because she is not allowed to lose there."

Harly said she had planned to increase Shenny's point of difficulty from 2.4 to between 2.8 and 3.2.

"Her performance in the Sixth Asian Swimming Championships in Pusan, South Korea, last week was not entirely satisfying because she had just recovered from a triceps injury. She only had three days to prepare herself for the event."

Shenny, 15, was injured during a training session in early March.

Shenny will be coached by Zhung Shaozhen in Beijing for six weeks.

In Pusan, she finished fifth with a score of 423.99 points after gold medalist Sun Na of China with 506.01, silver medalist Chen Li of China with 487.77, bronze medalist Irina Vyguzova of Kazakhstan with 468.90 and fourth place Mun Yee Leong of Malaysia with 452.22.

Harly said the Indonesian Swimming Federation (PRSI) had sent a letter to the National Sports Council (KONI) requesting the governing sports body include Muhammad Nasrullah in its centralized training program as the diver had qualified to compete in the Olympics.

Nasrullah scored 535.02 points to finish sixth in the men's platform in the championships following He Wei of China (671.13), Xu Xiang of China (665.76), Miyamoto Kiichiro of Japan (601.89), Ken Nee Yeoh of Malaysia (551.52) and Yoo Chang-jun of South Korea (535.02).

Another female diver, Eka Purnama Indah, also qualified for the Olympics but the Federation decided not to send her as she finished ninth in the championships.

Teammate Sukran Jamjani failed to reach the final round in the event. (yan)