Local pugilists regain pride with hard-hitting punches<\/p>\n
By Johannes K. Simbolon<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's boxers wrested domination of the
\nring from Thailand yesterday as its fighters crushed all their
\nopponents on the second day of the semifinals.<\/p>\n
It was sweet revenge for the hosts as all the Thai boxers had
\nwon their fights on the first day of semifinals Tuesday,
\ndefeating four Indonesians on the way.<\/p>\n
Of the five boxers fielded by Indonesia's camp yesterday,
\nthree defeated Thai boxers, while the other two were victorious
\nagainst Filipinos.<\/p>\n
"I hope our fighters will do their best to win gold medals in
\nthe finals (today). In the last SEA Games in Chiang Mai two years
\nago, none of our fighters got any gold medals," said the chairman
\nof the Indonesian Sports Council, Wismoyo Arismunandar, who
\nwatched most of the semifinals at the Soemantri Brodjonegoro
\nsports hall in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Thailand took all 11 boxing gold medals contested in Chiang
\nMai.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has seven boxers in the finals, including pinweight
\n(45kg) Rusli and flyweight (51kg) Hermensen Ballo, who won their
\nsemifinals on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian victory run started yesterday with light
\nflyweight (48kg) Lapaene Massara beating Filipino Disierto Efren
\n20-7.<\/p>\n
The 1,000 boxing fanatics watching the semifinals felt the
\nreal war -- the war against Thailand -- started when a less well-
\nknown bantamweight (54kg) Dufri Masihor, an army private from the
\nSouth Sulawesi's Wirabhuana Military Command, stepped into the
\nring to face Sontaya Wongprates.<\/p>\n
Dufri defeated the victor in the Asian boxing championship in
\nKuala Lumpur two months ago 27-13 in a bout characterized by much
\nhugging and pushing.<\/p>\n
The crowd cheered Dufri's victory wildly and rushed to embrace
\nhim.<\/p>\n
Lightweight (60kg) Wilpare Jamhur, an army private in the
\nJakarta Military Commander, brought more merriment to the crowd
\nafter beating another boxer from Thailand's camp, Pongsit
\nWaingwisas 21-10.<\/p>\n
"I hope I will be promoted to sergeant if I can win the gold
\nmedal," he said in his moment of victory.<\/p>\n
Welterweight (67) Bara Gommies then entered the ring and
\ndefeated another boxer from Thailand, Park Poom Jang Phonak, 20-
\n13.<\/p>\n
And veteran policeman Albert Papilaya completed the demolition
\nin the last match. He wrapped up success by spectacularly
\nfinishing off Philippine's Mario Tizon with a third-round knock-
\nout.<\/p>\n
The technical president of Thailand's Amateur Boxing
\nFederation, Maj. Gen. Taweep Jantararoj, could not hide his
\ndisappointment over his boxers' losses, hinting that the judges
\nhad made unfair decisions.<\/p>\n
"We are certainly disappointed. But we are not going to
\ncomplain or protest. We came here to show sportsmanship"
\nJantararoj told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
"Spectators know well who the real winners of the matches
\nwere," he added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/local-pugilists-regain-pride-with-hard-hitting-punches-1447893297",
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