Three golds in tae kwon do doable for RI

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Tae kwon do is focusing on a realistic target of three golds at the 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines next month -- one better than its gold haul in Hanoi two years ago.

"Our coach said that it would be good if we could win three golds in the SEA Games," said tae kwon do athlete Ronny Kusdiantoro last week. "The toughest competitors will be Vietnam and Thailand."

National tae kwon do athletes pocketed two golds, five silver and two bronze in 2003 in Hanoi, and their results have been respectable since then.

In the seventh LG ASEAN Tae kwon do Championship last year, Indonesia took two golds, compared to Vietnam's 12. Malaysia and Philippines seized one gold respectively (Thailand did not participate in the event).

In the Islamic Solidarity Games in April, tae kwon do athletes saved face for Indonesia by taking a gold, silver and bronze.

Late last month, women's tae kwon do athletes also contributed one gold and two bronze to the Indonesian medal tally from the Women Muslim Games in Iran.

However, they failed to collect any medals at the Universiade in Izmir, Turkey.

Indonesian Tae kwon do Association (PB TI) chairman Suharto has repeatedly stated that his athletes must strive to do better than in Hanoi when they compete in Cebu City.

"In the 2005 SEA Games, we want to win as many medals as in 2003, but of course we want to be better," he said.

Ronny said the gold target was realistic with the talents of veteran athletes such as Olympian Satryo Rahadani, Derry Dharmansyah Maulana and Basuki Nugroho.

"I will also do my best to win gold in the fin division," he said.

Satisfactory results in international competition have boosted the confidence of the athletes, he added.

In the men's division, Ronny is joined by Satryo, Taufik Krisna, Derry, Basuki, Rosandi, Muhammad Abubakar and Teguh Waskito.

In the women's class, 2003 world flyweight champion Juana Wangsa Putri heads the group of Fransisca Valentina, Martina Navratilova, Voppy Trisnawanty, Iin Retno Famula, Rahadewi Neta and Amalia Kurniasih.