Five months from the start of the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, Indonesia’s sepak takraw athletes are still on a waiting list for inclusion in country’s Asiad contingent.
Indonesia said it will only compete in 17 of 42 sports at the Asian Games: track and field, archery, weightlifting, badminton, beach volleyball, bowling, rowing, sailing, wrestling, karate, wushu, tae kwon do, fencing, tennis, aquatics, chess and cycling.
The Indonesian Sepak Takraw Association hopes that the country will compete in 18 sports instead.
“We hope we can become the 18th sport. We have a chance to win two bronze medals after our achievements in the last Asiad in Doha,” said association secretary-general Isnanta on Tuesday.
The country’s sepak takraw team won three bronze medals in 2006: men’s team, men’s regu,
and men’s doubles.
The achievement was considered a surprise by many observers, who had pegged the team to bring win a single bronze medal.
sepak takraw, some people call it kick volleyball, uses a rattan ball and permits players to use only their feet, knees, chest and head to touch the ball.
The sport originated on the Malaysian peninsula and is popular in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philip-pines Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Sepak takraw players will compete for six gold medals in Guangzhou. If the sport is approved by Indonesia for the Asian Games, the country’s players will face tough competition from Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Malaysia.
At a 2007 biennial sepak takraw event in Thailand, the Indonesian team secured three silver medals. Thailand secured the most medals by winning four gold and one silver medal, and Vietnam, the runner-up, won two gold and one silver medal.
The Asian Games’ host country, China, recently has improved its sepak takraw women’s team performance. Chinese players also won three bronze medals in Doha.
Isnanta said that Indonesia has greater chance to win medals in the men’s competition.
“We will focus on game strategy,” said Ahmad Sofyan Hanif, the association’s head of athlete development.
The association plans to compete in the King’s Cup championship in July and in a national tournament in August before the Guangzhou games in November.
National Sports Council spokesperson Firman Gindo said that billiards is also on the waiting list for inclusion in the country’s Asiad contingent.
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