Bali to host world junior wushu event

JAKARTA: Bali will host the world junior wushu championships next month with Indonesia looking to shape up for international competitions beyond.

The organizers are expecting athletes from 54 countries to participate in the event, which will run from Dec. 7 to 14. Medals will be offered in 22 events, according to a press release on Monday.

"There will be more participants in Bali than they had in Beijing two years ago when only 40 countries took part," IGK Manila, chairman of the organizing committee, said.

"Hopefully the event will be a chance to rehearse ahead of the 2009 SEA (Southeast Asian) Games in Laos and 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou," he said.

According to deputy chairman of the Indonesian Wushu Association, Agus Susanto, Indonesia will field 8 sanshou and 11 taulo athletes. The sanshou athletes have been preparing in Surabaya since September, while the taulo group has made Medan their training camp, under the supervision of a Chinese coach.

The Surabaya camp has been working particularly on the athletes' stamina, which, according to Agus, has been their weak point.

"They already posses good skills, they just need to shape up physically. We see they have made significant improvement in Surabaya," he said.

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