Wrestling body targets Olympic qualification
Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Makassar
The Indonesian Wrestling Association (PGSI) is now setting its sights on producing athletes competent of qualifying for the Olympic Games, having already dominated the Southeast Asian region for a long time.
"It is quite possible that Indonesian wrestlers can meet the high demands of international competition, especially the Olympics," PGSI chairman Andi Ghalib said at the opening of the 23rd National Wrestling Championships at Mattoangin Stadium on Tuesday.
He said the five-day event would serve as a means of national selection for the Southeast Asian Wrestling Championships to be hosted by Indonesia in Jakarta next month.
The national championships offer 16 gold medals in the Greco- Roman and freestyle events, featuring 169 athletes from 19 of PGSI's provincial chapters.
Absent from the competition are wrestlers from Aceh, Bali, Gorontalo, Maluku, North Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, Central Sulawesi and North Sulawesi.
The event's overall winner will be awarded the coveted President's Cup.
Tuesday's program saw the Greco-Roman preliminary rounds in the 50kg, 54kg, 58kg, 63kg, 85kg, 97kg and 130kg weight categories.
The freestyle events will start on Wednesday.
Jakarta is touted as favorite for the overall title and displace defending champion East Java. West Java and Lampung are also teams expected to mount a challenge.
The Southeast Asian Wrestling Championships have been reinstated in response to the sport's absence from the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur last month.
"Malaysia refused to stage wrestling at the SEA Games last month due to fears that Indonesia would have taken all of the 16 gold medals," Ghalib said.
"Wrestlers should not be disappointed (with the sport's no- show at the SEA Games) as it was just one of the host's methods of securing its dream of winning the overall title. They should prove their might in the Southeast Asian championships.
"We must also keep training hard because the Hanoi 2003 SEA Games will surely have wrestling back in the program," he added.
Meanwhile, PGSI executive director Endro Sumardjo said the association would pay attention to security matters for the SEA Championships following the U.S. and British attacks on Afghanistan.
"We will communicate all issues related to the championships, although all nine countries have yet to file any complaints," he was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.
"Several countries have confirmed their participation, including their women's wrestlers participation in exhibition events," he added.