Sports Council sticks to standards

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)