Having underperformed at the recent Asian Archery Championships in Bali, Indonesian archers have been urged to restore their confidence within two weeks, before heading to Laos for the Southeast Asian Games.
"They need to improve their outlook, especially in dealing with pressure of competition like from the Asian Championships," Indonesian Archery Association (Perpani) coaching chief Leane Suniar told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
The Asian Championships, which ran from Nov. 15 to 21, saw the hosts gain only two silver medals, far below their expectation of a gold and three silvers.
Of the two, only one was produced by the 12-stong SEA Games team, courtesy of I Gusti Nyoman Puruhito in the men's 70-m compound.
The other silver came from the women's recurve through a young archer from Yogyakarta, Shaquila Awali Fajri, who is not a member of the SEA Games squad.
"Physically and technically they are all in good shape. However, to make accurate shots, they must develop a fully prepared mentality for a competitive atmosphere," she added.
Specializing in the men's individual compound event, Puruhito contributed one of the three gold medals Indonesia won at the last SEA Games in Thailand two years ago. The other two came from Ika Yuliana Rochmawati in the women's individual recurve event, after she won in an all-Indonesian final against silver medalist Rina Dewi Puspitasari and from the women's recurve team event.
Apart from the performance at the Asian Championships, Leane said Puruhito (or Adit as he is often called) and Rina have been generally showing good performance in their discipline at several international competitions this year.
Puruhito broke his own national record at the world archery championships in Antalya, Turkey, in June, while Rina, who triumphed in the 2003 and 2005 SEA Games, burst into the top eight at the world championship event in South Korea, prior to Bali.
The team will be looking to retain the three-gold haul.
