RI ASSG CONTINGENT LEAVES FOR THAILAND

Jakarta, July 20 (ANTARA) - A 161-strong Indonesian sports contingent left for Suphanburi, Thailand, on Monday to take part in the first ASEAN School Sports Games (ASSG) on July 20-29.

They left the city's Soekarno-Hatta Airport for Thailand by a Thai Airways flight.

Although the leader of the sports contingent and the event's organizing committee had earlier asked the athletes not to worry much about the outbreak of H1N1 virus in a number of ASEAN countries most of them had been wearing face masks since they left the airport.

Most of the athletes are students of the sports school in Ragunan, South Jakarta.

"For preventive purposes, we called on them to wear face masks and keep their health," the deputy chief of the Indonesian sports contingent, Henry Ridwan, said.

"The local organizing committee itself has declared Suphanburi free (from H1N1 virus). But I don't know who will come there from other airports," he said.

The Indonesian athletes will take part in nine sports branches, including swimming, athletics, sepak-takraw, gymnastics, tennis, table-tennis, basket-ball, badminton and volley-ball.

The chief of the Indonesian contingent, Agus Edy Suharto, said here last Tuesday ten branches would be competed in the event and Indonesia would only miss golf.

Agus said Indonesia targets an overall runner-up in the event.

The event will be the first to be staged by the ASEAN School Sport Council (ASSC) and will be an annual event to be hosted in turn by ASEAN members.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.***5***