he Indonesia men's wrestling team has blamed its recent five losses in the free-style category at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta on Sunday on a lack of training and proper mentality.
Indonesia sent six of its best athletes to compete in six free-style wrestling categories, namely 57 kilograms, 65 kg, 74 kg, 86 kg, 97 kg and 125 kg.
Yet, only one wrestler - 27-year-old Eko Roni Saputra in the 57 kg category - advanced to the quarterfinals before being eliminated, leaving Indonesia's hopes in the 125 kg class that is set to play out tomorrow.
“We are lacking in preparation as other countries have trained for around five years, while we only scheduled eight months of training,” Indonesia men’s team wrestling coach Zulhaidir told the press.
Zulhaidir further blamed the poor showings on the low number of wrestling competitions in the country, which he believes impacted the mentality of the players. Only one national competition, he said, could be used to develop skills and mentality.
“Therefore, we hope that our results in the Asian Games could also become an evaluation for our association in terms of adding competitions,” he said.
Fahriansyah, who competed in the men’s 86 kg this year, concurred, saying that his team needed to train more if it wanted to catch up with other Asian countries.
“Looking at my defeat in the previous games, it is true that our opponents are in a different class than us and I also blame [the loss] on my lack of experience playing at the highest level,” he said.
The 31-year-old wrestler was defeated twice on Sunday, first in a round of 16 match against Iran and again in the repechage round. (nkn)
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