World junior weightlifting championship opened here

World junior weightlifting championship opened here

JAKARTA (JP): The 20th world junior weightlifting
championships opened here yesterday evening, with young lifters
hoping to establish a number of new records.

The event, fielding a total of 169 lifters from 46 countries
on five continents, will get into full-swing today at the Senayan
tennis indoor stadium.

Gothfried Sundhol, President of the International
Weightlifting Federation (IWF), officially declared the
championships open yesterday. He said the six-day meet was
regarded as one of major events regularly held by his
international sport organization.

Chairman of national sports governing body (KONI) Surono,
chairman of the Indonesian Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Body
Building Association (PABBSI) Soesilo Soedarman, who is also
Coordinating Minister for Politic and Security Affairs, and
PABBSI secretary general Djoko Pramono attended the opening
ceremony.

Indonesia was named the host of the annual championships
during an IWF meeting held in Canada last year. The plenary
meeting also decided to bring the world junior powerlifting
championships to Indonesia.

Despite the strong challenge from other Eastern Europe rivals,
Russian musclemen are expected to dominate the weightlifting
meet. Indonesia, banking on 11 athletes, set a modest target of
being included in the medal winning countries.

Both Soesilo and Djoko had expressed their guarded pessimism
that Indonesian lifters could win a gold. "Foreign lifters are
better than Indonesians," Soesilo admitted.

Foreign participants should have been surprised during the
opening ceremony as 50 dancers who dressed in tribal costumes
from Irian Jaya hoisted the IWF flag in a musical performance.

The announcer said the choreography was created by the
National Marine Corps, which now has Maj. Gen. Djoko in command.
Some 500 personnel of the corps were mobilized from their
barracks at Cilandak, South Jakarta to join the ceremony. A corps
member said he would come to see the competitions every day.
(amd)