Taekwondo prepared for SEAG

Taekwondo prepared for SEAG

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Taekwondo Association has called
up 40 young athletes to participate in a training program for the
20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

The association's secretary-general, Ahmad Zarkasih Hamid,
said on Tuesday that the training program began on Dec. 31 in
Yogyakarta, Surabaya in East Java and Batam Island in Riau.

He said the three locations had been picked for practical
reasons.

"The three training camps are situated close to the athletes'
homes and are thus convenient for them. The proximity will also
help us to save money," he said.

School-aged athletes from Sumatra and Kalimantan will go to
Batam, while national athletes from Central Java and Sumatra,
most of whom are university students, will gather in Yogyakarta.
National athletes from eastern parts of the country will train in
Surabaya.

Zarkasih said that Satrio Rahardani was not among the athletes
selected for the program, which is designed to prepare athletes
for the SEA Games in Brunei in August. Satrio, who won a silver
medal at the 13th Asian Games in December last year, will instead
go to South Korea for an extended period of overseas training.

Satrio, better known as Gendon, is expected to represent
Indonesia at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, where taekwondo
will make its debut as a medal sport.

The country's other candidate for the Olympic taekwondo event
is Asian Games bronze medalist Juana Wangsa.

Zarkasih also revealed that the association had appointed
South Korean coach Oh Il-nam as a SEA Games training program
consultant.

Separately, the director of Gelora Senayan sports complex,
Yasidi Hambali, said he would welcome any request from sports
federations that wanted to use facilities at the complex to train
SEA Games-bound athletes.

"They can use our facilities for free for their training
programs. I have already made it much easier to apply for the
required permit," he said. (yan)