T

en rowers and canoeists from Riau are threatening to reject a call for Myanmar SEA (Southeast Asian) Games training, if the centralized training camp is held outside of the province.

Sanusi Anwar, head of the provincial rowing and canoeing association (PODSI) said, “We will not send our athletes to the training camp if it is held at Jatiluhur [a reservoir] in West Java,” as quoted by Antara on Tuesday.

The association hopes that the athletes can train at their respective home bases. A decentralized camp, according to Sanusi, is preferred to centralized one “based on past experience in which a number of athletes were invited to the camp but [were] eliminated”.

The Riau rowing and canoeing team emerged as the overall champions during the recent National Games (PON) in Pekanbaru.

PODSI is reported to have included ten athletes from Riau in the trainee list for the Myanmar Games, scheduled for December next year.

Those athletes are Ikhwan Randi, Maizir Riyobdra, Eka Octa Rorianus, Yudi Sispangindra (men’s canoeing); Raudani Fitra, Ayu Azhari, Riska Elpia Ramadani (women’s canoeing); Tanzil, Wiko, Zulhendra (men’s rowing).

“We will not send those athletes [to a centralized camp]. I want to ensure they undergo a well-prepared training regime at home,” Sanusi said.

Boasting the province’s rowing potential, Sanusi said that he was disapointed that PODSI only listed ten athletes.

West Java dominates the shortlist with 18 athletes. Other athletes come from Central Kalimantan, Papua, Lampung Banten, Jakarta, North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi and East Java.

In Semarang, as many as 34 swimmers from several provinces were reported to have begun the first phase of national training,

Trainer Hartadi Nurjojo said that the swimming body had received the trainee list from Tono Suratman of the National Sports Council.

Seven of the trainees are considered to have the best medal prospects. They are Triadi Fauzi, Glenn Victor (West Java), Gede Siman Sudartawa (Riau) and Indra Gunawan (North Sumatera) in the men’s division; Raina Saumi, Yessy Yosaputra, and Monaliza (West Java) in the women’s division.