Table tennis players to undergo training

Table tennis players to undergo training

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Table Tennis Association says it
will select eight men and six women at the National Games next
month to join its long-term national training program for
international events.

Johny Waworuntu, the outgoing general secretary of the
association, said yesterday that the program would last until the
Southeast Asian Games here in October 1997.

Johny said that nine of the selected players would attend
their first international at the Golden Racket Open Tournament in
Vietnam in October, a major warm-up for the Asian Championships
in Singapore in December.

"We accepted Vietnam's invitation, because we know that they
are one of the most dangerous contenders for the gold medals at
the next Southeast Asian Games," he said.

Johny said Indonesia is seeking better Asian results, instead
of resting on the SEA Games' laurels that it has enjoyed over the
past two decades.

Top Asian table tennis players, especially from China, Japan
and South Korea, are the best in the world.

Johny said that after the Vietnamese competition, all the
national trainees would go overseas, possibly to China, in
November and December before the Asian Championships.

In China, the Indonesian players will compete against locals
in Beijing, Shanghai, Canton and other cities.

The national players will rest for two weeks after the Asian
Championships before resuming their program in January, Johny
said.

A European tour scheduled between February and April, possibly
to Belgium, has also been arranged for the Indonesian team in
preparation for the World Championships in Manchester, England,
next April.

"We need a different trial because we want our players to get
used to the Europeans," Johny said. (yan)