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ALEMBANG: Soccer clubs representing the five main islands of the archipelago are gearing up for the 2010-2011 season of the Superliga Indonesia at the on-going Djarum Inter Islands Cup (IIC) soccer tournament.

The six clubs participating at the Aug. 27-Sept. 5 tournament held by PT Liga Indonesia are divided into two groups.

Teams in group A — consisting of Sumatra’s Sriwijaya FC, Persiba Balikpapan (Kalimantan), Persib Bandung (Java) — are competing at the Jakabaring Stadium in Palembang, South Sumatra, while, Group B’s PSM Makassar (Sulawesi), Arema Indonesia (Java) and Persipura (Papua) are competing in Malang, East Java.

The final of the tournament will take place in Palembang on Sept. 5.

“This tournament is a warm-up drill for our team. We will perform our best here,” Persiba coach Junaidi, whose team defeated Sriwijaya 3-0 in Saturday night’s group qualifying match, said.

The Sriwijaya team said the IIC also served as a final selection test for its new players.

“Coach Ivan Kolev is giving a final chance to Rinto Ali to show his skills. After the IIC tournament, the playing roster will have been decided,” Sriwijaya team technical director Hendri Zainuddin told Antara news agency on Sunday.

Rinto Ali, playing for the Pelita Jaya under-21 side last season, and Okto Maniani are the two young hopefuls who will be competing for the last remaining regular spot in the Sriwijaya lineup.

Sriwijaya are three-time Indonesian Cup champions and boast a roster of well-known strikers including Ponaryo Astaman, Budi Sudarsono and South Korean import Park Jung-Hwan. — JP