INDONESIA HAS expressed concern over the possibility of its boxers being given the short end of the stick in the event they go head-to-head with Filipino boxers during the 23rd Southeast Asian Games.
National team coach Wiem Gomies told The Jakarta Post that "as hosts, the Philippines are putting their nation’s pride on the line. It will be a difficult task against the hosts."
"After being thrashed by Thailand in Vietnam (2003 SEAG). The Philippines vowed to bounce back and Thailand returned home empty-handed from the Olympic qualifying (in the Philippines) in 2004. The Philippines dominated the event," the Jakarta Post reported yesterday.
Wiem said save for the luck of the draw, results of fights will depend heavily on the scoring of the judges and "while he does not expect biased judging against Indonesian boxers in bouts with Thais, the regional powerhouse in the sport, it will be a different matter in taking on the hosts," the Post said.
Indonesia is sending a full team of nine men and four women boxers in the Nov. 27 to Dec. 5 biennial games. Matches will be held at the St. La Salle gymnasium in Bacolod City.
Tapped to spearhead Indonesia’s bid in the men’s division are Alberto Alfons (45 kg.), Rionando Butar-Butar (48), Destesa Moniaga (51), Dadan Amanda (54), Arenaldo Moniaga (57), Miftah Rifai Lubis (60), Robby Chandra (64), Toar Sompotan (69) and Bara Gomies (75).
Wiem said the team is about 85 percent prepared to vie for honors in the SEAG.
The top bets include Butar-Butar, who is entered in the light-flyweight category, the same weight class of reigning SEAG kingpin Harry Tanamor and Thailand’s bemedalled Suban Phanon, and Arenaldo Moniaga, fighting in the featherweight class.
Meanwhile, 22-year-old lightweight Paunandes Paulus of Malaysia is aiming to grab a medal in the SEAG, the Malaysian news agency Bernama reported yesterday.
Making his SEAG debut, Paulus, a member of the national team since 2003, is coming off an impressive stint in the Kyrgystan Open where he took a bronze.
Malaysia is sending five other boxers to Bacolod and they are Mohd Nazri Mat Yusof (45 kg.), Zamzai Azizi Mohammad (48), Eddey Kalai (57), Zulkarnain Mustafa (69) and Mohd Akmal Kamal (75).
