Yeltsin opens Youth Games

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia has sent two fencers and a coach to the first World Youth Games in Moscow, to be held from July 11 to July 19.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin opened the Games at the Luzhniki Olympic stadium on Monday in a ceremony also attended by the International Olympic Committee chairman Juan Antonio Samaranch and Moscow Mayor Yu Luzhkov.

About 7,500 athletes, ranging in age from 13 to 17 years, will represent 136 countries competed in 14 sports.

The Indonesian Embassy in Moscow said in a press release that Indonesia took part in the opening ceremony by performing traditional dances including Reog Ponorogo, Ondel-ondel, Kuda Lumping and giving a demonstration of the traditional martial art Pencak Silat. The contingent also showed traditional wedding dresses from the ethnic groups of West Sumatra, Gorontalo (North Sulawesi), Jambi and Betawi. (yan)