Taekwondo athletes train in Korea for PON

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The East Kalimantan taekwondo team is looking to retain the overall championship title it won in the last National Games (PON) four years ago by commencing a training regime in South Korea.

The team is in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do province, for a month-long training program according to the team’s coach Eko Agus.

“They are training to shape up their fighting spirit. They are improving their technique by sparring with a former Olympic winner,” said Eko, who is accompanying the province’s taekwondo team in South Korea.

The athletes include Eka Sahara, Selvi Angelia Rozok, Junaidi Alfred and Nurul Fadilah. Other members of the coaching staff are Pino Indra and Aidin S. Hadi.

Eko said the team was lucky to have 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medalist Son Tae-jin as a sparring partner and to have been trained by Oh Ill-nam, Indonesia’s national taekwondo coach in 1980s.

“It won’t be easy to retain the title because teams from other provinces are also practicing in South Korea for two to three months,” he said.