KONI mulls biennial Games with less sports

Musthofid ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Tenggarong, East Kalimantan   |  Sat, 07/12/2008 11:41 AM  |  Sports

The National Sports Council (KONI) is considering holding the National Games (PON) every two years instead of the current four, with fewer sports events.

"We will evaluate the Games and try to assess if we can stage the Games every two years," KONI chairwoman Rita Subowo said during her tour of sports venues in Tenggarong, East Kalimantan, on Friday.

"It's not an easy task to hold 43 sporting events at once. This is simply too high a figure. The biennial Games will feature Olympic and non-Olympic sports on a rotating basis."

This year's Games are being hosted in Balikpapan, Berau, Bontang, Tarakan and Tenggarong. Syaiful Teteng, chairman of the organizing committee, said the East Kalimantan administration had spent almost Rp 4 trillion (US$430 million) on the event.

In spite of modern facilities and new buildings constructed especially for the Games, organizers face criticism in their handling of the event. Athletes have complained of substandard accommodation, triggered by a shortage of hotel rooms because of the influx of 11,000 athletes and officials.

"With a fewer number of sports, we will be able to keep the budget in check," Rita said.

"We will not need to build so many venues because we have to think about the long term: What will we do with all these sporting facilities once the Games are over?"

In the medal tally, Jakarta's haul of gold is slowing down fast, indicating it may not retain the overall championship it won in 2004.

East Kalimantan has taken over second place with 57 gold medals to Jakarta's 53, with East Java consolidating its top spot with 73 gold medals.

West Java and Central Java round up the top five with 49 and 21 gold medals respectively. Of the 33 provinces participating, only Gorontalo and West Sulawesi have yet to win any medals.

Jakarta beat West Java 2-0 in the final of the women's team badminton competition, but lost in the men's final, going down 3-0 to Central Java.

In the women's final, West Java rotated its players, with Linda Weni starting the first singles. But she was unable to make any impact as Adriyanti Firdasari won 21-15, 21-18.

Lita Nurlita and Devi Tika then mounted a possible comeback by taking the opening set 21-19 in the doubles match against Endang Nursugianti and Rani Mundiastuti. However, they lost the next two sets 21-13, 21-15, handing Jakarta the gold medal.

Jakarta's downfall in the men's final looked destined when Simon Santoso lost 21-15, 21-18 to unfancied Andre Kurniawan. Rian Sukmawan and Yonatan then beat Joko Riyadi and Rendra Wijaya 21-15, 21-14, 21-19. Andreas Adityawarman sealed Central Java's victory with a 21-13, 21-11 win over Tommy Sugiarto.

The fifth day of competition in track and field events at Palaran Stadium saw eight provinces win a gold medal each. Central Java's Triyaningsih posted a personal best of 35 minutes 36.16 seconds in the women's 10,000 meters, although this was still slower than the national record of 32 minutes 52.45 seconds.

Other teams taking gold were Yogyakarta, West Nusa Tenggara, Bali, East Java, Jakarta, West Java and East Kalimantan.

East Java added another six gold medals from archery, including victory in the men's 70 meters team event, in which Hendra Setiawan, Kuswantoro, Riau Ega Agata and Lukman Wahyudi proved too strong for the other teams.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.