Winsurfers gear up for Olympic qualifications

Winsurfers gear up for Olympic qualifications

JAKARTA (JP): National windsurfers Oka Sulaksana and Fadli
Faizal must be ranked among the top 20 in the world in order to
qualify for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, coach Iskandar Sitompul
said on Monday.

Oka and Fadli are training for the pre-Olympic qualifying
rounds in Sydney on Sept. 15 to Sept. 26.

Both athletes will then compete in the World Championships
from Nov. 18 to Nov. 24. The championships are divided into the
Asian Pacific and European zones. The European zone championships
will be held in Italy while the Asian Pacific zone championships
will take place in Nouma, New Caledonia.

Indonesians must compete in both zone competitions, which will
be contested by athletes from 40 countries, for a chance to enter
the world's top 20.

Iskandar, who recently attended a meeting on pre-Olympic
preparations at the office of the National Sports Council, said
the Indonesian Windsurfing and Yachting Association (Porlasi)
would begin its centralized training program on June 2 in Bali.

"Now the athletes are training in two different places. Fadli
is in Ujungpandang (South Sulawesi) and Oka is in Bali," he said.

Oka -- the gold medalist at the 13th Asian Games in the IMCO
heavy division in Pattaya, Thailand, last December -- is the
country's best hope of finishing in the top 10 in the Olympics in
Sydney. Oka finished 13th in his Olympic debut in Atlanta,
Georgia, three years ago.

Porlasi also will hold a national windsurfing championship
beginning Thursday and lasting until April 4 at Ancol, North
Jakarta.

Separately, the secretary-general of the Indonesian Rowing and
Canoeing Association (PODSI), Budiman Setiawan, said Indonesia
would send its canoeists and rowers to compete in the Olympic
qualifying rounds.

"We are preparing our Southeast Asian Games athletes," Budiman
said, declining to name which athletes would take part in the
competitions.

Budiman also declined to name the canoeists who would compete
in a world competition in Milan, Italy.

PODSI also will send four former Asian Games rowers to compete
in the World Championships at Saint Catharines, Canada at the end
of August.

The Indonesians will face athletes from 24 countries in the
single scull event and athletes from 19 countries in the double
scull event. The Indonesians will then fly to Nagano, Japan, to
compete in the Asian Championships in October.

"The training program will begin next month at Jatiluhur Dam
in Purwakarta, West Java," Budiman said. (ivy)