Indonesia To Send Wushu Athletes To Undergo Overseas

JAKARTA, April 3 (Antara) - Being considered as one of important sport disciplines to grab medals in the upcoming Asian Games, Indonesia is expected to send its Wushu athletes to undergo overseas trainings. China is main destination for the overseas trainings of the Indonesian Wushu athletes. However, Secretary General of the Indonesian Wushu Executive Board (PB WI), Ngatino in a press statement on Friday (March 3), mentioned that the Wushu athletes would left for Iran and Hongkong before heading to China. "Undergoing the training in China is the focus of our attention because China's athletes are the strong ones in Wushu. In addition, we will also join the local competition in China," Ngatino noted. Indonesia is eying at least one gold medal in Wushu sport in the upcoming 2018 Asian Games. According to Ngatino, his side will prepare 15 athletes comprising eight athletes for Taulo and seven athletes for Sanda sports. Wushu is a martial art that combines the art of beauty in it. In the game, wushu is divided into two categories namely Taolu and Sanda that can be followed by men or women. The optimism of the Indonesian whusu team to grab at least one gold medal was based on the results of Whusu competition in Sanda discipline which was held in Moscow, Russia from February 16 to 20, 2018. Indonesian athletes in the Moscow whusu competition successfully grabbed three gold medals, two silver medals, and one bronze medal. Three of the Indonesian wushu athletes who gained the gold medals in the Moscow wushu competition were Rosalina Simanjuntak in the women`s class of 48 kilograms, Selviah Pertiwi in the women`s class of 52 kilograms, and Yusuf Widianto in the men`s class of 56 kilograms. Two athletes that got the silver medals were Mey Yulianengsih in the women`s class 60 kilograms and Yudi Cahyadi in the men`s class of 65 kilograms. Meanwhile, one bronze medal was bagged by Abdul Haris Sofyan in the class of 60 kilogram. In the meantime, coach of the Indonesia's Wushu team, Zhang Yue Ning said recently that the Indonesian Wushu Executive Board would send its athletes to China for a couple of months to prepare for the 2018 Asian Games. The athletes are expected to leave for China in April, hoping that the athletes will be more focused in exercises. "So the main goal to China is to be more focused in doing exercises. The second point is that to learn and see the athletes there to have exercises together, and see the good quality athletes and atmosphere there," the coach disclosed. The athletes taking part in the training camp, will be selected in order to see their progress and shortcomings before joining the training camp in China. However, some athletes namely Lindswell Kwok, Juwita Niza, Achmad Hulaefi, Edgar Marvelo and Harris Horatius, will only hold simulation, instead of selection (before leaving for China), the coach explained, adding that all coaches and athletes wanted to gain gold medals. "Thus, we must think how to make the athletes prepared maximally in the Asian Games and try to grab as many as gold medals," the coach stated. Apart from that, the athletes that are prepared to fight in the Asian Games should focus on improving vital movements that are very influential on the assessment of the game. With regard to the condition of the training camp (pelatnas) players who have been undergoing exercises since December 2017, Zhang said everything has a raising chart of preparation. But, the coach predicted that the Indonesian players' "journey" in the upcoming 2018 Asian Games will not be smooth even though the Indonesian wushu team is strengthened by players like Lindswell Kwok and Juwita Niza. "The challenge is because those who won medals in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, are getting older and the current conditions are different from four years ago," Coach Zhang warned. Moreover, the physical injury as a torn muscle definitely influenced the athletes, because they are not in right conditions such as four years ago. However, he remains confident that all athletes will be ready to compete in time during the upcoming 2018 Asian Games. The physical and technical coaches will gradually handle the athletes, so that they will be really in peak appearance and can perform optimally in the 2018 Asian Games. The Asian Games, which will be held in Jakarta and the South Sumatra provincial capital city of Palembang, will bring together around 10 thousand athletes from 45 countries to compete in 40 sports from Aug 18 to Sept 2, 2018. A total of 40 branches of sports covered in 462 events, comprising 32 Olympic sports and eight non-Olympic sports, will be competed at the 18th Asian Games. It will be the second time that Indonesia is hosting the Asian Games next year. Indonesia hosted the Asian sporting events for the first time in 1962, the fourth one after the Asian Games were first organized in New Delhi, India, in 1951.