More golds for Jonathan as gymnastics ends<\/p>\n
By Ivy Susanti<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's Jonathan Mangiring Sianturi
\ncontinued his winning ways in the vault and high bar yesterday to
\nreap a total six golds in the Games.<\/p>\n
His only loss on the final day of gymnastics was a second-
\nplace finish behind close rival Amornthep Unchai of Thailand in
\nthe parallel bars on the final day of gymnastics.<\/p>\n
\"I am very happy with my performances and I thank God for
\ntoday,\" Jonathan, 26, told The Jakarta Post. His other golds came
\nin the team competition, all-around event, rings and floor
\nexercise.<\/p>\n
His five individual golds helped Indonesia finish first in the
\nsport's medal standings -- seven golds, one silver, one bronze --
\nand to its best Games performance since 1989.<\/p>\n
Amornthep gave Jonathan a fight, finishing second in high bar
\nand third in the vault.<\/p>\n
\"I am very happy with the victory, and the competition was
\nfair today,\" said Thai team manager Areekul NA Nakorn.<\/p>\n
In the women's event, Filipina Pia Adelle Reyes, the unwitting
\nsubject of controversy throughout the Games, shared top honors
\nwith Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Nga in balance beam and Indonesia's
\nSherly Novitasari in the floor exercise.<\/p>\n
Reyes originally placed second in the beam, but a protest by
\nthe Filipino camp led to a videotape review of her performance.
\nHer score was subsequently increased for the tie with Nguyen.<\/p>\n
Sherly won her first gold in the floor with the score of
\n8.850. Her teammate, Afrina Suryani Siahaan, who had been
\nexpected to win medals, performed poorly, finishing seventh in
\nthe beam and fifth in the floor exercise.<\/p>\n
Team coach Iouri Kouznetsov said Afrina's floor routine was
\nmediocre.<\/p>\n
His major gripe, however, was with the judges<\/p>\n
\"I think the judging was unfair. It has been like that since
\nthe first day of the competition,\" the Russian-born coach said.<\/p>\n
He attributed the daily disputes over scores to the judges,
\nwhom he accused of being inefficient.<\/p>\n
\"The local judges do not have enough knowledge and experience
\nin score judging,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Nguyen's gold in the beam -- the country's first in Games
\nhistory -- came out of the blue.<\/p>\n
The 16-year-old let out a yell of surprise when the scoreboard
\nannounced her as winner.<\/p>\n
\"I am very happy, I am so emotional that I want to cry,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The Vietnam assistant chief of mission, Nguyen Hong Muihn,
\nsaid the gold was \"lucky\".<\/p>\n
He said training facilities in his country were still
\ninadequate.<\/p>\n
Sukma Anggraini of Indonesia was third in balance beam and Au
\nLi Yen of Malaysia won the bronze in floor exercise.<\/p>\n
\"It is a good achievement since she has trained for less than
\na year,\" Kouznetsov said of Sukma's performance. (09)<\/p>",
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