Chris John, Irene win 2009 best athlete awards
The Jakarta Post Mon, 03/08/2010 10:30 AM Sports
Boxing champion Chris John and rising chess star Irene Kharisma Sukandar have been named Indonesia’s best male and female athletes, according to a poll conducted by the country’s leading sports tabloid Bola.
The poll, whose results were announced Saturday, involved 14,694 respondents — the largest sample of its kind.
For the best female athlete award, Irene beat badminton players Maria Kristin and Liliana Natsir, as well as long-distance runner Trianingsih, who last month won a marathon event in Hong Kong — her first international feat this year.
Irene is the country’s first and only Woman Grandmaster titlist, who earned her 2008 title at the prodigious age of 16. She turns 18 in April.
She began known to the world of chess in the 2004 Chess Olympiad in Calvia, Spain, where she received her FIDE Master. In the 2006 event in Turin, Italy, she rose as International Master titleholder, and accomplished her best feat so far in 2008 when she earned her current title at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com
Though it’s rather an old story, it’s great that Irene can won, since Maria and Lilyana are though candidates. Maria won bronze in the olympic, while Lilyana has been one of the top woman specialist for double.
Too bad she doesn’t play in many international tournaments.