Swimmer Catherine Surya to miss 13th Asian Games
Swimmer Catherine Surya to miss 13th Asian Games
JAKARTA (JP): With only less than a month before the 13th
Asian Games in Bangkok, Indonesia may lose its hope to win medals
in the pool after its best swimmer Catherine Surya withdrew from
the event.
Catherine, winner of three golds at last year's 19th Southeast
Asian (SEA) Games here, injured her thigh during a regular
practice in Australia.
The Indonesian Swimming Federation's technical director,
Lukman Niode, expressed his regret on Tuesday over Catherine's
injury.
"Catherine has been showing progress during her overseas stint
but her injury will seriously affect her preparations for the
quadrennial event," Lukman said.
The 19-year-old swimmer, who has been training in Australia
since the SEA Games, had been expected to win a medal either in
the 100 or 200 meters butterfly.
Lukman said Indonesia would put all its hopes on Rita, who is
now training in the United States, in the 100 and 200 meters
breaststroke.
Rita is expected to take on tough challenges from Chinese,
Japanese and South Korean swimmers. Lukman said that performance-
wise Rita should manage sixth place in the 200m breaststroke.
Separately, the Indonesian Weightlifting, Powerlifting and
Bodybuilding Association's secretary-general, Djoko Pramono, said
on Monday that national women lifters were expected to win one
silver and one bronze at the Asiad.
Indonesia is grooming female lifters Winarni and Supeni in the
53kg division and Sri Indriyani in the 48-kilogram division and
male lifters 62-kg Taufik and 69-kg Erwin Abdullah.
While female lifters look to shine, Djoko said national male
lifters would only manage to finish sixth.
Djoko predicted lifters from ex-Soviet countries as tough
rivals during the Asiad.
Weightlifting will be contested from Dec. 6 to Dec. 14 at the
Muang Thong Thani Indoor Stadium.
Optimism
Meanwhile, chief of the national centralized training camp,
Albert Paruntu, expressed his optimism that Indonesia could do
better than it did in the 1994 Asiad in Hiroshima, where it
finished 11th overall with three golds it won in badminton.
"All athletes are ready to fight it out. They will also be
prepared to cope with possible psychological terror from local
supporters," he said as quoted by Antara on Monday.
Indonesia has never excelled on Thai soil, losing to the
spirited host team in the 1985 and 1995 Southeast Asian Games in
Bangkok and Chiang Mai respectively.
Paruntu said he had anticipated the host's tricks that might
cost Indonesia medals during the upcoming Asiad.
"We've learned the tricks, including unexpected changes in the
competition schedules or late entries to the Thai contingent," he
said.
Paruntu said he had formed an advanced team which would go to
Bangkok to study sports venues. (yan)