Tennis players feel comfortable with Busan's weather

Tennis players feel comfortable with Busan's weather

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Busan, South Korea

Unlike other Indonesian athletes who have complained about the
chilly weather here, tennis players at the Busan 2002 Asian Games
find the weather in this southern port city ideal.

"Weather like this enables the players to play without tiring
easily.

"The temperature also prevents fast dehydration unlike when
playing in hot places like Bali," coach Suharyadi said on Friday
morning.

He was speaking upon his arrival at Busan's Gimhae
International Airport, along with women's doubles players Liza
Andriyani and Wukirasih Sawondari and weightlifters Raima Lisa
Rumbewas and Jadi Setiadi.

Suharyadi said Indonesia expected two gold medals from three
women's events; team, singles and doubles.

"We don't know yet from which events we can grab the gold
medals but we will focus on the team event first.

"But we must be careful with tennis players from China, Japan,
South Korea and Thailand," he added.

Tennis is to be played from Oct. 2 to Oct. 12 in Geumjeong
Tennis Stadium.

There is nothing the players can do in the days before the
games but to quickly adapt to the court type, Suharyadi said.

Women's singles players Wynne Adiati Prakusya and Angelique
Widjaja are slated to arrive here on Sunday, while men's tennis
players Suwandi and Peter Handoyo have been here since
Thursday.

Similarly, beach volleyball manager Slamet Mulyanto played
down any problems with the weather, saying his players had
already adapted to the chilly weather.

"The temperature is no longer a problem. Nor is the wind. The
venue itself is of very good quality," he added.

The beach volleyball competition will be held at Haeundae
beach from Sept. 29 to Oct. 13.

Meanwhile, weightlifters Lisa Rumbewas and Rosmainar are
gearing up to be the first medal catchers for the Indonesian
team. Competing in the women's 48kg weightclass division, they
will compete with 2002 world junior champion Li Zhou from China
with a total lift of 200.0 kilograms.

"Lisa lifted between 200.0 kilograms and 200.05 kilograms
during her training session, so we believe she can compete with
her opponents," said weightlifting team manager Lukman.

"We hope Lisa can grab the first Indonesian gold medal. As for
Rosmainar, she has the potential to grab bronze."

Meanwhile, deputy chef de mission Imron Z.S. called on veteran
windsurfer I Gusti Made Oka Sulaksana and teammate Fadly Faisal
to enter the athletes' village on Saturday.

Both athletes were staying at the Dae Sung-jae just by Haundae
beach. They left Jakarta on Sept. 7 to acclimatize and to study
the current and wind attitude in Haeundae beach. They were
accompanied by coach Bruce Kendall, who only had a 12-day
contract and left on Sept. 19.

"The organizing committee cannot provide security protection
if there are still athletes living outside the village.

"We don't have any other choice but to follow the regulation
that all athletes stay in the village," said Imron.

He said that each contingent would be allowed to take packed
lunches to the venues instead of returning to the athletes'
village.

"Imagine if our cyclists had to return to the village just to
eat lunch. It is at least a one-and-a-half hour drive to the
athletes' village from the Gijang Country Club," he said,
referring to the venue of the cycling competition.

Later in the evening, the Busan Asian Games Organizing
Committee (BAGOC) held a dress rehearsal for the opening ceremony
at the Busan Main Stadium in the Busan Main Sports Complex.

There will be about 5,500 participants in the 120-minute
ceremony, which has a theme of Beautiful Reunion as both South
and North Korean teams will walk together under one flag of the
Korean peninsula.

South Korean president Kim Dae-jung is slated to open the 14th
Asiad.

BAGOC also plans a festival on Sunday to honor the Games
torch, called the Unification Flame, as it was taken from Halla
Mount in the South and Baekdu in the North.

In a separate development, soccer teams had their first games
on Friday at the qualifying stage.

Vietnam was held to a goalless draw with UAE in Group B, while
the 2001 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold medalist Thailand
crushed Yemen 3-0 in another group match.

China defeated Turkmenistan 4-0 in Group C.

In Group A, host South Korea defeated Maldives 4-0, while
Malaysia had a goalless match with Oman.