Wismoyo inaugurates SEAG team
JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council (KONI) chairman, Wismoyo Arismunandar, inaugurated the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games contingent at the Senayan Indoor Tennis Stadium on Wednesday.
The contingent consists of 238 male and 112 female athletes from 20 sports, 162 coaches and 82 officials. They will leave the country on Aug. 3 using national carrier Garuda Indonesia.
The whole squad is scheduled to meet President B.J. Habibie at the Palace garden on Thursday at around 11 a.m.
KONI's official in charge of athlete development, Mochammad Hindarto, said in his report that hockey, water polo, shooting, soccer and table tennis athletes had to miss the ceremony because they were involved in local and overseas warmups.
He said that of 235 events to be featured at Bandar Seri Begawan from Aug. 7 to Aug. 15, Indonesia would not compete in 32 events: 19 events in the track and field, one hockey event, eight shooting events, two squash and six lawn bowls events.
In his speech, Wismoyo urged athletes to contribute their best to the country in order to retain the overall title.
After the ceremony, Wismoyo sang patriotic songs together with the red-and-white sports-suited athletes.
The Indonesian Karate Federation (Forki) secretary-general, Hendardji Soepandji, said he and the coaches would meet later on Wednesday evening to discuss the system to select 21 out of 35 karatekas to compete in the biennial event.
Hendardji said Forki's officials would consider the suggestion from athletes that they preferred evaluation rather than competition as the selection process.
"The coaches would review the karatekas' achievements in the last year, starting from the Army Chief of Staff (Kasad) Cup to the Asian Games," he said.
He also said the 1999 SEA Games gold medalists would automatically compete in the Asian Union Karate Organization (AUKO) championships in Singapore in October.
"We will also consider sending the silver medalists to the championships," he said on the sidelines of the ceremony.
Speaking on Indonesia's backbone Omita Olga Ompi, Hendardji said she would be allowed to resign after the SEA Games.
Omita had requested to resign from the national team to pursue her career at a private life insurance company.
"I was appointed as the assistant general manager on July 5 and the next morning I had to skip work due to my participation in the Ladies' Cup in Japan. I was torn between karate and my career," she said.
"I have earned many titles. What else am I looking for?" said Omita, who wants to have children from her one-year marriage.
Olympics
The Indonesian Taekwondo Association (TI) secretary-general, Ahmad Zarkasih Hamid, said Juana Wangsa Putri, Dominggus Boro and Satrio Rahardani would definitely miss the biennial event as they would concentrate on the Olympics.
"Juana is qualified for the Games and she still has to request permission from her school to have long-term training in South Korea. Satrio still needs to recover after suffering chicken pox while Dominggus has the second stringers in his class," he said.
TI has a target of three golds but Zarkasih was optimistic that the national taekwon doins would be able to win three golds in the men's sector and two in the women's sector.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Basketball Association (Perbasi) chairman, Sutiyoso, expressed hope that the national team could grab the silver medal in the Games.
"Two years ago, we were in fourth position. But this year, I aimed for the team to win at least third place, and I think they can. I know that it will be difficult to beat the Philippines," said Sutiyoso, who is also Jakarta governor, after the ceremony.
He also said he would meet the team to boost their spirits and motivation before their departure.
Coach Tjetjep Firmansyah said his team had shown a slight improvement, especially in their defense.
He also said that the team should try to improve their teamwork and boost their fighting spirit.
"We will talk together and allow everyone to speak up on our target," he said. (ivy/yan)