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Female lifters book place in Singapore
The Indonesian youth female weightlifters have joined their male compatriots in securing a spot at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August, as the squad finished top three at the Asian qualifiers in Tashkent, which ended Sunday
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he Indonesian youth female weightlifters have joined their male compatriots in securing a spot at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August, as the squad finished top three at the Asian qualifiers in Tashkent, which ended Sunday.
The Indonesian squad of seven female youth lifters, all born between 1993 and 1994, collected a total of three silver and 12 bronze medals at the 12th Asian Youth Weightlifting Championship, held by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, which ran from April 7 to 11.
Indonesia finished in third place based on overall medals collection. Only the top-four placed teams in Tashkent qualified for the August 14-26 Youth Olympics.
“Hats off to these young athletes because they were able to make it to the Olympics on their own merits, rather than with a wildcard. This also means they have a better chance in securing medals at the Youth Olympics,” Indonesian Weightlifting, Powerlifting, Bodybuilding Association (PABBSI) deputy chairman Syafriadi Tjut told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
The three silver medals were won by Sri Wahyuni Agustiani in the 44-kilogram class, while the 12 bronze medals were collected by five other lifters, including Sri Dwi Rahayu in the 48-kg (three), Dewi Safitri in the 53-kg (three), Murni Simin in the 58-kg (two), Sonia Febriani Lestari in the 69-kg (three) and Novita Sherly Kurniati in the +69-kg (one).
The Tashkent event was attended by 19 countries in grouped in the Asian bloc, including Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Japan, South and North Korea, Kazakhstan, China, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, Kirgizstan, The United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
The Indonesian male youth weightlifting squad booked a spot in the Youth Olympics in May last year after finishing 12th at the first Youth World Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The country’s three youth swimmers, Fibriani Ratna Marita, Pratama Siahaan, and Patrisia Yosita have also booked places at the Youth Olympics.
“Although there will be only a few Indonesian youth athletes participating in the Olympics, we hope that the government and KONI [the National Sports Council] provide support for our preparations ahead,” said Syafriadi.
“However, as the Youth Olympic Games gets closer, it is under exposed, all attention has been focused on the 2010 Asian Games and the SEA [Southeast Asian] Games next year,” said Syafriadi, citing that preparations for the Asian qualifiers had been undertaken separately in West Java and Lampung, according to the athletes’ origins to minimize costs.
“Even today, there has not been any budget allocated to the Youth Olympics participants. Hopefully, we will get some clarity concerning government and KONI support and be able to provide centralized-training for these youth athletes, allowances for them and their coaches, better food supplements, and accomodation facilities,” said Syafriadi.
