Softball body selects 44 athletes for SEA Games

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Amateur Baseball and Softball Federation has selected 22 male and 22 female players for the 19th SEA Games here in October.

Doedie Gambiro, the association's head of softball development, told The Jakarta Post the selection was made in early December.

"We picked 22 out of 38 male and 22 out of 32 female athletes during the decentralized training program from Oct. 27 to early December," he said.

The 44 athletes, who mostly come from Jakarta and West Java, are being groomed in the Senayan softball diamond and are staying at the Century Park Hotel.

The association is to send both teams to New Zealand to take part in the country's national championships.

The men's team is going to take part in the Wellington Open, which is to be staged from Jan. 18 to Jan. 20.

Before the Open matches they take part in exhibition matches scheduled for Jan. 16.

"The women's team will participate in the Christchurch Open from Jan. 16 to Jan. 19," he said.

Both teams are scheduled to leave Jakarta for New Zealand on Jan. 13. Doedie said that he has no idea who Indonesia's opponents in the championship might be.

The purpose of sending both teams abroad is to boost their fighting spirit.

"We know that our teams lack international competition experience," he said.

"But we also wish that our teams will at least reach the semifinals in New Zealand," he added.

Doedie said that Chinese consultant, Li Min Kwan, is to join the national squad in New Zealand.

"He will observe our teams' performance during the tournaments. Then he will come to Indonesia for about two weeks to discuss how to improve our teams," he said.

Li is expected to return to Indonesia in April.

During Li's stay in New Zealand, he will may also hire a good pitcher to coach the Indonesian pitchers.

"We're searching for good pitchers not only in New Zealand, but also in China and Japan," he said.

The association plans to hire a foreign pitcher in September to improve national athletes' batting.

"In September, we're going to hire a foreign pitcher after both teams are formed," he said. (yan)