Sports council cancels biomechanic tests

Sports council cancels biomechanic tests

JAKARTA (JP): The economic turmoil has prompted the National
Sports Council's 13th Asian Games task force to cancel plans for
athletes to take biomechanic tests in Singapore.

Task force chairman Muhammad Hindarto told reporters yesterday
that the tests would have cost the council Rp 170 million
(US$12,365).

"We have to be more efficient with the budget. The Singapore
Sports Medicine Institute director, Dr. Teh Kong Chuan, suggested
we send two sports science experts, who understand the subject
well, to be trained for one week at the institute," he said.

"Singapore was very impressed with our success in staging the
19th SEA Games last year and will give us free-of-charge training
in the name of friendship. We only have to fund the
transportation and board and lodging," he added.

The council has announced it will only send sports with the
potential to win golds or silvers to the Asiad, which offers 377
golds. They are badminton, beach volleyball, boxing, cycling,
karate, shooting, tae kwon do, tennis, weightlifting, windsurfing
and wushu.

Hindarto said both experts would be trained next month after
the Idul Fitri holiday.

The task force plans to test only weightlifters, shuttlers,
karatekas, tennis players, boxers and windsurfers -- who are
considered to have the most gold medal-winning potential -- using
three simple video cameras set at 50 frames per second.

"In Singapore, they use cameras with 300 frames per second and
the equipment for analyzing the biomechanic tests costs
US$500,000," Hindarto said.

"Both experts will accompany coaches during the analysis to
weed out the athletes' imperfections. We can record their speed,
power, endurance and agility so we can train them more
effectively and more efficiently," he said. (yan)