Karate team strikes first gold for RI<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Mandaue City, Cebu<\/p>\n
The national men's and women's karate team defeated archrivals
\nMalaysia in the kumite finals on Sunday for the country's first
\ngold medals of the Games in Philippines.<\/p>\n
\"We are halfway ahead of Malaysia,\" delighted Indonesian
\nKarate-do Federation(Forki) chairman Luhut Pandjaitan said after
\nthe victory.<\/p>\n
\"I am glad to see our athletes fight very well to win golds
\nand I hope these golds will continue in the following days.<\/p>\n
Faisal Zainuddin also added one silver medal for Indonesia in
\nthe individual kata competition later in day.<\/p>\n
Forki has set a target of five gold this year, one better than
\nits haul at the Vietnam Games in 2003.<\/p>\n
At the Mandaue City Sport Complex, the Indonesian women's team
\nbeat Thailand in the first round and Myanmar in the semifinals,
\nbefore scoring a momentous 10-8 win over Malaysia in the final.<\/p>\n
Nurahmi K. S. was in inspired form, thrashing Malaysia's
\nVasantha Marial 4-0 by combining powerful strikes to the face
\nwith a solid defense.<\/p>\n
Top national women's karateka Jeanny Zennet came close to
\nbeating Jamalliah but was unable to hold on to a 2-0 lead with
\nonly a minute to go. The Malaysian fought back to tie.<\/p>\n
There was a lot riding on the performance of third karateka
\nTelly Melinda. Although she succumbed 4-6 to Yamini, Indonesia
\nwon on aggregate, finally getting the gold after back-to-back
\nsilvers in the 2001 and 2003 Games.<\/p>\n
In the men's kumite final, Christo Mandolu fought to a 1-1
\ndraw with Puvaneswaran R, which was followed by a 2-2 tie between
\nBambang Maulidin and Malaysian Kunasilan L.<\/p>\n
But Umar Syarif, the 2003 gold medalist in the 80kg division
\nand the winner of the European Master Cup in August, had a
\ncomfortable win over Mahendran S.<\/p>\n
It was then up to 21-year-old Donny Dharmawan to lock up the
\ngold for Indonesia, dismissing Jervis Anak Julian of
\nMalaysia 7-2.<\/p>\n
\"Our strategy worked well against Malaysia,\" national karate
\nteam manager Madju Dharyanto said. \"When the Malaysians prepared
\nright hand attacks, we were ready with left hand attacks. It
\nconfused them and made it impossible for them to develop their
\nrhythm.\"<\/p>\n
Indonesia, which was the bronze medalist in Vietnam, also
\nmixed up its final formation, from the lineup of Bambang, Umar
\nand Donny from the early rounds.<\/p>\n
Madju praised the fighting spirit of his athletes, especially
\nthe suprising performance of Nurahmi and Donny.<\/p>\n
\"We are also surprised to see that karatekas like Nurahmi and
\nDonny could win their bouts in the finals because we put our
\nexpectations on other karatekas to contribute the victories.\"<\/p>",
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