Yulianti dreams of sweet career close

Yulianti dreams of sweet career close

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Fauziah Yulianti, who has been a regular player in the national
table tennis team for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games since 1995,
expects a memorable ending to her career when she competes in
Vietnam for her last appearance.

"I want to win a gold medal at the SEA Games. It's always been
my obsession," Yuli, as the 27-year-old veteran player prefers to
be called, told The Jakarta Post after she won a two-day
qualifying competition event on Friday.

The victory has assured the East Java native a berth on the
national team and yet another occasion to be featured at the next
SEA Games, which will run in Vietnam this December.

Yuli earned three gold medals in her early performances in the
biennial multi-event Games; one in 1995 and two in 1997. But
those came from the team in the doubles event.

"I'm eager to win it in the singles," she said, adding that
she planned to retire from the national team after this year's
Games.

Given the current strength of table tennis in the region,
which has seen Singapore dominate the game with its Chinese
recruits, people may consider Yuli's hopes a bit too high.

To complicate matters more, Indonesian players, who have been
regular gold medal recipients, have shown a steady decline with
the last Games in 2001 marking their most rueful performance,
with not a single gold to be brought home.

Despite the challenges that await her, Yuli is optimistic
about a scheme drawn up by the Indonesian Table Tennis
Association (PTMSI) to send Game hopefuls to training camp in
North Korea for seven months.

"I will have to sharpen my footwork, backhands and blocks. And
I hope that with strong sparring partners in Korea I will be able
to build on those skills," she said.

At the two-day competition, which ended on Friday, Yuli was
unstoppable at topping the standings with a perfect 14 points
after beating the rest of the eight females.

Nilasari, Lindawati and Christine Ferliana finished in the top
four.

David Yacob beat out the other 10 participants in the men's
category with 18 points, putting his senior Deddy da Costa in
second place. Yon Mardiono and Ismu Harinto followed in third and
fourth place respectively.

PTMSI plans to groom four men and four women in Korea. While
the winners have automatically secured places on the team, the
other six will be selected from the list according to their
potential in the doubles, Loka said.