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.