Indonesia rules the road, winning team time trials<\/p>\n
By Dwiatmanta<\/p>\n
CHIANG MAI, Thailand (JP): Indonesia pedaled its way to a
\ngolden double in the 18th Southeast Asian Games cycling
\ncompetition yesterday, winning both the men's and women's team
\ntime trial.<\/p>\n
Nurhayati, who triumphed in the individual pursuit on
\nTuesday, spurred the Indonesian women's quartet to the best time
\nof one hour, 11 minutes and 50.733 seconds, ahead of a struggling
\nThailand team which clocked 1:12:44.088.<\/p>\n
Formidable teamwork on the part of the Indonesian men's riders
\npaid off when they made a clean sweep of the day with a combined
\ntime of 2:10:41.976. Thailand kept up the pressure, finishing
\nsecond for the silver.<\/p>\n
The time scored by a team in a time trial event is an average
\nof the times clocked by the team's first three riders.<\/p>\n
The two cycling golds were more than a mere consolation for
\nthe Indonesian team, which suffered a double upset at the hand of
\nhost Thailand on the first day of competition in the biennial
\nevent on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The national cyclists have now bagged five gold medals, a far
\nbetter result than they achieved at the last Games two years ago
\nin Singapore. They are now eying the two golds which remain in
\ncycling. These will both be up for grabs, also on the road,
\ntomorrow.<\/p>\n
Yesterday's cycling races confirmed the continuing neck-and-
\nneck rivalry between Indonesia and Thailand in this sport.
\nThailand has scored three golds from cycling, including the first
\ntwo golds offered on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Nurhayati played a pivotal role in holding the Thais'
\nattention in the 50-kilometer race yesterday. With the Thai
\nquartet wasting their time in checking Nurhayati, the other
\ncyclists -- Nuraini, Suharmisri and Selly Guntari -- sprinted
\ntheir way to their best time.<\/p>\n
The Thais, spearheaded by Chalerm Chamchun (who earlier had
\nthe honor of becoming the first gold medalist of the Games),
\nclocked an average time of 1:12:44.088, followed by Vietnam with
\n1:20:02.293.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian men had a slightly easier time yesterday.
\nTonton Susanto, Mohammad Hadi, Tubagus Mohammad Maulana and
\nIsmail Eggi Eirin had an average margin of almost two minutes
\nahead of Thailand.<\/p>\n
The Philippines, an old foe of Indonesia in cycling, managed
\nonly the bronze after clocking an average time of 2:14:25.084.<\/p>\n
"We were determined to prove that we could beat the host
\ncyclists in these races," coach Puspita Mustika Adya said after
\nthe double wins. "We have now regained our confidence to stay on
\nour winning track."<\/p>\n
Puspita looks certain to bank on his aces Nurhayati and
\nNuraini in the women's 73-km road race and on Suwandra in the
\nmen's 173-km race.<\/p>\n
"It's going to be a close race, but I'm ready to make it
\nthree after this morale boosting win," Nurhayati said. The
\nYogyakarta-based women's cyclist won the Indonesian cycling
\nteam's only gold in 1993.<\/p>\n
Drought<\/p>\n
Indonesia continued to suffer a gold medal famine in track and
\nfield yesterday by winning only the men's long jump event through
\nAgus Reza's efforts. The Indonesian title holder leapt an under-
\npar 7.55 meters for Indonesia's fifth track and field gold.<\/p>\n
Host Thailand confirmed its supremacy, adding four more golds
\nto its collection of 15. The tremendous run performed by the host
\nathletes climaxed when Renchai Seehawong clinched the region's
\nfastest man title. Renchai clocked a modest 10.47 seconds for the
\n100m dash, his second gold after his victory in the 200m on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
But the Thais failed to further extend the list of its record
\nbreakers. Two new marks yesterday were set by Filipino pole
\nvaulter Edward Lasouette and Malaysia's men's high jumper Loo Kum
\nZee.<\/p>\n
Lasouette vaulted to 4.90m to improve the old mark by five
\ncentimeters. Loo also soared to a record breaking height of 2.24m
\nthat beat compatriot Lou Cwee Peng's record of 2.21m. Wong Yew
\nTong of Singapore joined the record breaking leap, but he
\nremained two centimeters below Loo.<\/p>\n
There was a drama on the track yesterday as Khin Khin Thwe of
\nMyanmar tumbled in a neck-to-neck final sprint of the women's
\n800m race, allowing Saipin Suetrong to win the gold.<\/p>\n
Saipin clocked 2:07.48, well ahead of Dang Thi Teo of Vietnam
\nand defending champion Ester Sumah of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Anastasia Silvaraj put herself among SEA Games record holder
\nwhen she won the newly introduced women's 5,000m walk in
\n22:50.24.<\/p>\n
In the late action, Filipino runner Elma Muros filled the
\nwomen's sprint throne left by compatriot Lydia de Vega. Muros
\nclocked the 100m in 11.81. Muros has now won three golds after
\nher triumph in the 200m and long jump events on Tuesday and
\nWednesday.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-rules-the-road-winning-team-time-trials-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}