Thailand has Indonesia worried about SEA Games
JAKARTA (JP): As the 18th Southeast Asian Games draw near, host Thailand is posing a serious threat to arch rival Indonesia.
Over the past four weeks, the two Southeast Asian sports powerhouses have been flexing their muscles in track and field and shooting meets.
Those big events deserve attention, mainly because track and field and shooting will provide almost a quarter of the 334 gold medals up for grabs in the Dec. 9-17 Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Swimming, in which there are 38 golds at stake, is the other gold mine.
Thailand took full advantage of hosting the SEA Games in 1985 to hand Indonesia its first defeat since 1977. The Thais are now setting their sights on another such victory.
"Beating Thailand will be a confidence-boosting win, since we have no enemies but the host team at the Games," Indonesian track and field coach Pieter Noya said on the eve of the 11th Asian Track and Field Championships last month.
Yet, after the conclusion of the 8th Asian Shooting Championship early this week, Thailand enjoyed an early upper hand over Indonesia prior to the regional sporting extravaganza.
Winning a silver and a bronze, Thailand came ninth in the medals standings in the shooting competition, three places better than Indonesia. Two weeks earlier, the Thais forced Indonesia to trail in 14th place by three bronzes in the Asian Track and Field Championships.
Shortly after the track and field meet, Thai coach Suchart Jaesuraparp warned Indonesia that it would bear a heavy at the SEA Games if it insists on winning 11 of the 45 golds at stake. He shrugged off Indonesia's dashing feat of 13 golds, 11 silvers and seven bronzes at the 1993 Games in Singapore.
"I think three or four gold medals would be realistic enough for Indonesia now," Suchart quipped. Thailand, with the home advantage, has set its sights on at least 12 golds.
Daunting
An even more daunting challenge awaits the Indonesians in the SEA Games shooting range, which has been under Thailand's control for at least the last three meets.
Thailand dominated the Singapore shooting range with eight golds, eight silvers and four bronzes, far better than Indonesia's collection of three golds, five silvers and three bronzes.
Training director of the Indonesian Shooting Association, Benny Mamoto, says: "We simply want to retain the gold medals we won two years ago."
Spurred on by the two bronzes that ended a 12-year medal drought in the Asian shooting championship, however, chairman of the association, Edi Sudradjat, thirsts after for more laurels. "Five golds will be a fair outcome," he says.
The association announced on Friday that three newcomers would join the 20-strong team for the Games. "We strictly shortlisted the shooters. Only those who have good chances of winning medals will go to the games," the association's SEA Games project officer, Hariyanto Suprapto, said.
The SEA Games shooting competition will provide 34 golds, the third-largest event to offer gold medals after swimming.
Thailand is keeping its feet on the ground, despite its long- time reign in shooting. "Indonesia is our toughest contender, with Vietnam second," chairman of Thailand's shooting association, Somchai Prabhasabhardi, said here last week.
"We aim to win only 10 gold medals in shooting because of the intense rivalry. Thanks be to God if we take more," he said.
Somchai, who hired three Russian coaches last year, expressed guarded optimism that his spirited squad is now reaching peak form.
"Let's see how they are over the coming two months. Barring unexpected injuries or bad luck, everything will go as planned," he said. (amd)