Two national karatekas grab KASAD trophies

JAKARTA (JP): Two national karatekas won the fifth Army Chief of Staff (KASAD) Cup championship at the Senayan indoor tennis stadium yesterday.

Hasan Basri from the Wadokoi team defeated Johanes Kunto of East Java 6-5 in the men's division, while Sandra Ariyani of North Sumatra won the women's division beating defending champion Nilawati Daud of West Java.

Sandra won the bronze medal in the third Asian Union Karate Organization (AUKO) championship in Macau last year.

Hasan and Sandra are training with other karatekas for the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok this December.

"I never thought that I could win this match. Nila defeated me at the 1992 President Cup in Medan and that's the last meeting I had with her," Sandra said.

Sandra, however, praised Nila as a good and well-prepared karateka.

Nila, who failed in the 60 kilogram category Saturday, managed to enter the finals after winning the free class.

Hasan, before winning the final, snatched victory in the 65 kg division beating East Java's Umar Syarif.

In yesterday's match, Hasan succeeded in bringing down Johannes Kunto to the floor with his tactical techniques. Johannes won the 80 kg division in the championship.

"Hasan deserved to win the trophy because he's still young and played well," Johanes said.

Hasan admitted that it was his dream to win the KASAD trophy. Hasan said he had prepared well for the tournament.

"I always wanted to win this trophy and I well prepared for it. I hope to compete in the world championships," he said.

The three-day championship, which started Friday with 596 participating karatekas, is organized by the Indonesian Karate-do Federation (Forki).

Lt. Gen. Sugiyono, deputy army chief of staff, closed the championship, while Gen. Subagyo Hadisiswoyo, the army chief of staff, opened the competition Friday.

Forki has yet to decide the venue and date of the 6th KASAD championship.

Forki secretary-general Hendarji said the championship aimed to identify karatekas to be included in the training for the Asian Games.

As final preparations for the Games, Forki plans to send its women karatekas to the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in July and its men and women karatekas to the world championships in Brazilia, Brazil, in October. (emf)