Sports Council sticks to standards
JAKARTA (JP): The national training director for the 13th Asian Games, Mochammad Hindarto, said yesterday that the National Sports Council would apply reasonable measures when selecting athletes for the event.
Hindarto said that in measurable sports like track and field and swimming, the council had long used personal best time to assess an athlete's ability. International rankings commonly apply in sports such as boxing, tennis, soccer and volleyball.
The council has announced that due to limited funds it will name a short list of athletes with strong chances of winning medals for the Asian Games in Bangkok in December.
But on Tuesday director of the national tennis team Benny Mailili questioned the selection process for the games. He said players' rankings did not always reveal their prowess and thus their chances of winning medals.
In response to Benny's criticism, Hindarto said the measurements were used because there were no other feasible ways of comparing athletes.
"We think Yayuk Basuki is the only tennis player who will qualify for the Asiad because she is ranked 29th in the world and second in Asia. On paper, she should at least win silver," said Hindarto.
"It's almost impossible, on the other hand, to expect Andrian Raturandang to win a medal because he's ranked less than 500 in the world and there are many Asian players with better rankings," he added.
The council is expected to unveil the team for the Asiad next Thursday. It has said the squad might comprise of 52 sportsmen and women, without elaborating on what sports they come from.
Tryouts
Earlier yesterday, an Indonesian Windsurfing and Yachting Association official in charge of athletes development, Raymond Kotambunan, said the China Open from Aug. 17 to Aug. 23 would serve as the final warm-up for Indonesian windsurfers before the Asiad.
Raymond also said the association would choose surfer(s) fit to represent the country in the Asiad after the tryout.
Coach Iskandar Sitompul said Oka Sulaksana, who won the heavyweight division of mistral one design at the Singapore Open last January, stood a better chance than Abdul Malik Faisal and Fadeli Faisal, the other two nominees.
Oka was upbeat yesterday of his chances of winning a gold in Bangkok, but complained about the lack of funds to hire a foreign coach.
"If I had a (foreign) coach, I believe I could win gold in the Asian Games like I did at the Southeast Asian Games last year," said Oka, who finished 13th in the 1996 Olympic Games.
Raymond said the association had considered hiring either Bruce Kendall, Aaron Macintosh, both from New Zealand, or Amid Imbar from Israel. The New Zealanders asked for a weekly salary of $1,000 and Imbar requested $1,200.
Hindarto said the sports council might use Rp 100 million recently returned by the Indonesian Tennis Association to help Oka get a coach. The tennis association claimed it was not enough to pay the salary of their American coach, Matt Wheeler. (yan)