JAKARTA, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Ahead of the upcoming Asian Games, Indonesian athletes will take part in athletic championships in South Korea and Japan to be held later in the month, an official said here on Tuesday.
The Indonesian athletes are scheduled to compete in the Korea Open Athletics Meeting to be played in Yencheon from June 16-17, and the Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Gifu of Japan from June 7-10, said Mustara Musa, director of the training center for the country's Asian Games athletes.
Since most of the athletes who will take part in the upcoming event in South Korea will vie in the Asian Games, the official said that this moment can be used to map the strength of the competitors in the Games.
"This event can be a facility to gauge the capability and performance of the candidates for our opponents in the upcoming Asian Games," he asserted.
The official cited that these upcoming tryout matches will be warm-ups for the country's athletes before competing in the Asiad, and could be used as a barometer to measure their own capabilities.
For the championship in Japan, Indonesia will send eight athletes, of whom two will play in the Asian Games, said Mustara.
Among the sports to be competed in by the Indonesian contingent are: 4x100 meters, 110 meter hurdles, 100 meter hurdles, 100 and 200 sprints, and long jump, said Mustara.
The 18th Asian Games are scheduled to be played in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta and in Palembang, the provincial capital of South Sumatra province from August 18 to September 2.
