Indonesia to Send 188 Athletes to Asian Games

Jakarta (Antara) - Indonesia will send 188 athletes to compete in 23 sports categories during the Asian Games 2014, to be held in Incheon, South Korea from September 19 to October 4. Deputy to Chief for all sports of the Indonesian Olympiad Committee (KOI) Ade Lukman said here on Friday that the Indonesian athletes have been registered with the Asian Games' organizing committee. The number of athletes being sent by Indonesia was determined following evaluations, he said. "A change only happened to the soccer squad," he said. The 188 athletes include 166 men and 72 women. However, the committee has not decided on which coaches, managers and supporting managers will travel to South Korea. According to the initial estimate, the number of officials will reach 90. KOI needs to register the officials with the event's organizing committee seven days prior to the opening ceremony of the once every four year event, or before the technical meeting for each of the sports categories, he said. "Right now the athletes are just focusing on practicing. Given the short time, we hope we can make maximum efforts to achieve our targets," he said. Indonesia hopes to become one of top ten medal winning countries at the Asian Games. (*) Reporting by Bayu Kuncahyo