"All strong countries, including Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and India, will be participating, so our task now is to focus on training to achieve the best results,"
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian archery athlete Diananda Choirunisa admitted to be focusing on pursuing her personal target of winning a gold in the 2018 Asian Games despite the Indonesian Archery Association Board (PB Perpani) not setting high goals.

"We will be the host, so I have to do my best, especially since we have been practicing since long at the location to be used for the Asian Games," Choirunisa noted at the archery field of Senayan, Jakarta, on Wednesday.

Choirunisa, who is participating for the second time in the Asian Games, admitted to not be carrying any burden of undergoing all stages of training. Hence, Choirunisa has aimed to focus on honing her skills, considering that she will be competing against world-class athletes.

Choirunisa, nicknamed Dian, also admitted that the trainings to prepare for the 2018 Asian Games felt more secure, as AXA Mandiri was offering her an insurance, the first official one she had obtained after becoming a professional athlete.

"All along, when we suffer from an injury, we had to go to our own doctors, as injuries were rarely noticed. With provision of the insurance, we can practice safely and we would not be confused, should we suffer from an injury" the 2017 SEA Games gold medalist noted.

Despite being in the archery field, she remarked that the risks of injury were still high and generally affected the shoulder. However, Dian had earlier suffered from a knee injury, which is rather unlikely for archers such as herself.

"I was confused myself, and after being examined by a doctor, it turned out that there was a muscle tear. It is no longer a problem now," the athlete from Surabaya, East Java, noted.

In connection with the preparations to face the 2018 Asian Games, Choirunisa admitted that she had yet to encounter any problem, especially considering the fact that she is not being trained overseas, as trainings are concentrated in the country.

The athlete, who took up the sport of archery since the age of seven, claimed that she had also mapped out the toughest opponent in the 2018 Asia Games recurve discipline. Moreover, this four-yearly championship, especially the archery discipline, can be regarded as a Mini Olympics.

"All strong countries, including Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and India, will be participating, so our task now is to focus on training to achieve the best results," Dian emphasized.

Despite PB Perpani not having set a gold medal target, the government is eyeing at least one gold in archery.

Indonesia`s best achievement was a silver medal in the 1988 Asian Games, won by Lilies Handayani, Nurfitriyana Saiman, and Kusuma Wardhani.

Reporter: Bayu Kuncahyo
Editor: Bambang Purwanto
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