Youth may be served on SEAG squad

JAKARTA: Several young athletes will be vying for places on the national squad for the Vietnam Southeast Asia (SEA) Games when they take part in a three-day competition of the National Junior Track and Field Championships starting here on Sunday.

The competition, which will be held at the Bung Karno Madya Stadium, features 468 boys' and 261 girls' participants from 27 of the 30 provinces in Indonesia, according to Purnomo M. Yudi, the chairman of the organizing committee.

Younger athletes, mostly under 20, make up about 50 percent of the 54 SEAG hopefuls, currently training either in Jakarta or Pengalengan, West Java.

Purnomo said here on Friday that this track meet would largely decide the final lineup of the national team. "If they perform poorly they will certainly be axed from the team. New names could still probably be added to the list." -- JP