Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Manila<\/p>\n
Indonesia's campaign at the 23rd Southeast Asian Games
\ncontinued to stutter, with only four gold medals collected from
\nthe third day of competition on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Tae kwon doin Basuki Nugroho, karateka Umar Syarif, cyclist
\nDadi Nurcahyadi and bowler Ryan Leonard Lalisang took gold to
\nbring the national total to 10 after three days of competition.<\/p>\n
Kusnan Ismukanto, the national official in charge competition
\nin Metro Manila, tried to be philosophical about the situation.<\/p>\n
\"The athletes perform according to what they get from their
\ntraining. If they lose, they may not be in good form. Even if
\nthey are in good form, the opponents may be better than them and
\nthey are still defeated. All of this takes analysis,\" Kusnan told
\nThe Jakarta Post here on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The Philippines picked up 13 gold medals on Tuesday to take
\ntheir total to 38, an 18-gold lead on Vietnam, which won the last
\noverall medal count when it hosted the Games two years ago.<\/p>\n
Particularly disappointing has been track and field, with a
\nsilver and three bronze from 12 events at Rizal Memorial Sports
\nComplex.<\/p>\n
Another 12 gold medals will be at stake on Wednesday's final
\nday of track and field.<\/p>\n
The problem and the need to fix it was recognized by the man
\nin charge of national athletics.<\/p>\n
\"We need to improve our organizational management and
\ndevelopment system. We are looking to make sure that athletes do
\nnot easily suffer a drop in stamina,\" chairman of the Indonesian
\nAthletics Association (PASI) Mohamad \"Bob\" Hasan said.<\/p>\n
He added that there were many young athletes, selected from a
\nrecent talent scouting program, with good prospects, and that
\nPASI was considering a program to bring in foreign coaches.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Darwati clocked one hour, 52 minutes and 13.4
\nseconds in the women's 20-km walk to finish behind Yuan Yu Fang
\nof Malaysia, who won in 1:42.52.2.<\/p>\n
The bronze medals were contributed by Oliva Sadi in the
\nwomen's 1,500 meters, the men's team in the 4 x 400-meter relay
\nand Zulkarnaen Purba in the men's 400-meter hurdles.<\/p>\n
The men's 4 x 100-meter team was disqualified after final
\nrunner John Herman Murai dropped the baton.<\/p>\n
Hopes for gold in the wrestling competition at San Andres Gym
\nevaporated when Rudhi Septadhi lost in the final. It was a cruel
\nreversal of fortune for the Indonesian 21-year-old Games first-
\ntimer after his excellent performance in earlier rounds.<\/p>\n
In the 84-kilogram division, Rudhi overcame Rawin Phethaek of
\nThailand and John Esteban of Philippines, only to be easily
\ndefeated by Man Ba Xuan in the final in under one minute.<\/p>\n
The dejected Indonesian had no words of excuse but praised his
\nmore experienced opponent. \"He's just better than me,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In tae kwon do, Bambang made up for a loss to Alexander
\nBriones in the welterweight final at the 2003 Games by beating
\nthe Filipino this time around.<\/p>\n
To raucous shouts of, \"Go Indonesia\", the 24 year old from
\nMedan was able to take the winning point with the bout tied 2-2.<\/p>\n
\"I was really fired up, especially because this was the final
\nbout of the day,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In badminton, heavily favored Indonesia, led by Taufik
\nHidayat, thrashed Vietnam 5-0 to reach the men's team final.<\/p>\n
They meet Malaysia on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Their example was not followed by the women's team, which
\nlost 2-3 to Singapore.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bmusthofidb-the-jakarta-post-manila-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}