Controversy mars Amin's victory<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A dispute over Nur Amin's victory in the men's
\n3,000m steeplechase final marked the first day of this year's
\nIndonesia Open track and field championships at the Senayan Madya
\nstadium yesterday.<\/p>\n
Clocking nine minutes, 21.26 seconds, Amin beat Southeast
\nAsian (SEA) Games gold medalist Parluatan Siregar from North
\nSumatra.<\/p>\n
But unlike his opponents, Amin missed jumping a hurdle.
\nNegligent field workers only placed the hurdle on the track some
\nseconds after Amin ran past the spot.<\/p>\n
\"Such a victory must be disqualified,\" complained East
\nJavanese Abdul Manan, who finished well behind in third with a
\ntime of 9:36.15. Manan's protest went unheeded. The judges
\nannounced Amin's victory as steadfast.<\/p>\n
Amin shot out like an arrow from the start, leaving the pack
\nof runners far behind. About six minutes later, Siregar managed
\nto catch-up and the two ran neck and neck until the finish.<\/p>\n
In the final seconds, however, Amin, a marathon and 10,000m
\nspecialist, regained his lead and held on to win the race.
\nSiregar finished second with 9:24:09.<\/p>\n
Silent about the incident, Amin said he was happy with the
\nvictory. \"It made for a glorious debut in this event,\" he said.
\nAmin clocked his best time of 8:42secs in his favorite 3,000m at
\nthe Asian Junior Track and Field Championships in 1988.<\/p>\n
Siregar, who is also the SEA Games 1,500m record holder, told
\nThe Jakarta Post he was not yet in top form.<\/p>\n
Apparently disappointed about finishing second, Siregar noted
\nthat \"for the time being, this is all I can do. After all, my
\nultimate goal is not winning at the Indonesia Open, but at the
\nupcoming SEA Games in Chiang Mai.\"<\/p>\n
Ruwiyati added another gold medal in the women's 5,000m to put
\nCentral Java atop of the provisional medals tally with two golds,
\na silver and a bronze. Ruwiyati, who produced a golden hat trick
\nin the 1993 National Games, clocked 16 minutes 55.20 seconds.<\/p>\n
Chinese Taipei, Sri Lanka, North Sumatra and Irian Jaya took a
\ngold each.<\/p>\n
Another first day landmark was a new men's shot put national
\nrecord by Sukraj Singh from North Sumatra. He threw 15.61m to
\nbreak the previous record of 15.29 set by Geraldus Balagaise in
\nthe 1987 National Games.<\/p>\n
Geraldus finished third with 13.63m behind I Wayan Gunaksi,
\nthe bronze medalist at the 1991 SEA Games in Manila. Gunaksi
\nthrew 14.02m. (arf)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/controversy-mars-amins-victory-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}