Tight selection for RI squads for Asiad

Tight selection for RI squads for Asiad

JAKARTA (JP): Only athletes from five or six sports deserve to
go to the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok in December, Minister of
Sports and Youth Affairs Agung Laksono said yesterday.

On a visit to the national badminton training center in
Cipayung, East Jakarta, Agung said the lack of international
achievements coupled with lack of funds should prod several
sports organizations to reconsider their efforts to send their
athletes.

"The contingent is not necessarily big in quantity, but the
important things are quality and chances to win medals."

He said the deserving athletes were from badminton, karate,
weightlifting, tennis and boxing. Other sports, he said, only
held slim chances of bagging medals in the quadrennial sporting
event.

The National Sports Council announced early this year that the
country's athletes would compete in 21 sports in the hope of
winning six or seven gold medals.

Indonesia only excelled in badminton at the previous Asian
Games in Hiroshima, Japan, four years ago, winning all of its
three gold medals in the event.

In the upcoming Asiad, Indonesia will likely rely on badminton
players in its medal hunt. In May, they won a record 11th Thomas
Cup men's title and reached the Uber Cup women's team
championship final before losing to China.

The badminton association's deputy in charge of athlete
development, Mangombar Ferdinand Siregar, told Agung that the
association had drawn up a master training plan for the Sydney
2000 Olympics.

Siregar said he expected that between 20 and 24 players would
qualify for the Games. The race for Olympic qualifying will start
in April next year and finish 12 months later.

Siregar added that the association would shortlist between 42
and 48 shuttlers from the 63 players currently at the training
center.

"If everything goes as expected, we will give the Olympics-
bound players the privilege to take part in international
tournaments," Siregar said. (emf)