Indonesia stumbles in SEA Games tae kwon do<\/p>\n
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (JP): Indonesia had a letdown in the
\nSoutheast Asian (SEA) Games tae kwon do event when no gold medals
\nwent into its coffers at the conclusion of the program on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
During four days of competition, Indonesia only managed to bag
\none gold, won by Sinta Berliana Heru in the women's middleweight
\non Sunday's opening day. Indonesia also took three silvers,
\nincluding one from its lone finalist on Wednesday, Andri Halim,
\nand six bronzes.<\/p>\n
The outcome was a setback, compared to a six gold medal haul
\nIndonesia notched on home soil two years ago.<\/p>\n
It also capped preceding gloomy days for the Indonesian side,
\nwhich was still mourning the death of its Olympic hopeful,
\nDominggos Boro, who was killed in a car crash in Karawang, West
\nJava on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
At Indonesia's expense, Malaysia and the Philippines topped
\nthe gold medals standing with four each, followed by Vietnam with
\nthree.<\/p>\n
Two-time winner Andri narrowly missed his bid to complete a
\nhat trick of a gold medal on Wednesday, when he was outclassed by
\nNguyen Van Hung of Vietnam in the men's heavyweight final. Nguyen
\nwon the bout 5-0.<\/p>\n
Bronze medals went to Malaysian Mohd Saleh Zainol Abas and
\nPhilippine's hopeful Gerard Anthony Pingoy.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Tae kwon do Association (TI) chairman, Suharto,
\nwho watched his team's only hope go up in smoke, said he was not
\ndisappointed with the outcome, noting that the national squad was
\nmade up mostly of second stringers.<\/p>\n
Indonesia had set a mild target of winning three golds.<\/p>\n
\"This is a precious lesson for us. The SEA Games is the right
\nplace for our second stringers to feel the pressure of playing in
\ninternational competition,\" Suharto said.<\/p>\n
He credited Vietnam's team, which placed its athletes in
\nalmost all of the finals.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, a protest marred a men's bantamweight
\nsemifinal, in which Indonesia's best hope in the event, Derry
\nDermansyah Maulana, lost to eventual champion Jefferthom Go of
\nthe Philippines 3-4. Derry had to be content with the bronze.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's South Korean coach Oh Il-nam challenged the
\ndecision, saying the judges were unfair in ignoring Derry's
\ndouble kicks in the dying minute.<\/p>\n
When Indonesia's protest was ruled out, an angry Oh stood up
\nin the middle of the stage and took off his jacket before the
\nreferee led him out.<\/p>\n
Oh shouted at the judges, denouncing them before he went to
\nthe changing room to calm Derry, who was in tears.<\/p>\n
\"Don't cry! For me, you are the winner,\" Oh said to the
\nathlete.<\/p>\n
Oh refused to comment on the controversial decision.<\/p>\n
The Philippines' Go took the gold after defeating Duc Son of
\nVietnam, who clinched a superiority win over Thailand's Jatupone
\nAnyamaneewong in the other semifinal.<\/p>\n
Two other Indonesian tae kwon do athletes who competed on
\nWednesday, women's heavyweight Santi Agustina and women's
\nbantamweight Desy Nurhayati, also failed in the semifinals.<\/p>\n
Santi lost to Thi Thanh On Ho of Vietnam 0-3, while rookie
\nDesy fought haplessly in her 0-4 defeat to another Vietnamese,
\nTran Hieu Ngan. (yan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-stumbles-in-sea-games-tae-kwon-do-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}