'Silat', badminton save day for Indonesia<\/p>\n
By Dwiatmanta<\/p>\n
CHIANG MAI, Thailand (JP): Pencak silat and badminton saved
\nthe day for Indonesia in the Southeast Asia Games, as Thailand
\nwas formally declared the outright overall champion yesterday.<\/p>\n
Dethroned and humiliated, Indonesia salvaged its pride by
\ngrabbing eight golds from pencak silat, a traditional martial art
\nthat had its origins in Indonesia, and four from badminton, a
\nsport in which Indonesia has dominated the world scene.<\/p>\n
These, together with other victories in a few other sports,
\nbrought Indonesia's tally of gold on the penultimate day of the
\ncompetition to a decent 76, still way behind Thailand's 143.<\/p>\n
It was not a complete sweep in either silat, where Indonesia
\nwas represented in 12 of the 15 finals, or badminton, as
\nofficials had expected at the start of the day.<\/p>\n
\"We are no longer the sole superpower in pencak silat,\" Eddy
\nNalapraya, the chairman of the National Pencak Silat Association,
\nconceded, pointing out that this was the price Indonesia is
\nhaving to pay after vigorously promoting the sport worldwide
\nduring the last decade.<\/p>\n
Among the winners were Mohammad Asdar in the 45-50kg category,
\nWandi Suwandi in the 50-55 kg and Taslim Azis in the 70-75kg,
\nwhile Utoyo Trias Puso in the 75-80kg and Zainuddin in the Open
\ncategory were two of yesterday's Indonesian losers.<\/p>\n
In badminton, the world men's double champion Riky
\nSubagdja\/Rexy Mainaky suffered an upset defeat to deny Indonesia
\na clean sweep of the five gold medals that were at stake
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
Indonesia managed two golds from table tennis despite fielding
\nfinalists in all five finals. The two golds were contributed by
\nMohamad Al Arkam and Deddy Dacosta in the men's double and Rossy
\nPratiwi and Mulasih in the women's double.<\/p>\n
Rossy lost to Singapore's Hing Jung Hong in the women's single
\nwhile Hadiyudo Prajitno lost the men's single final to Vietnam's
\nVu Mahn Cuong. In mixed doubles, Anton Suseno and Mulutsih were
\ndefeated by Singapore's pair of Sen Yew Fai and Jing Jung Hong.<\/p>\n
Indonesia swept both the men's and women's epee team events,
\nbeating Thailand and the Philippines team respectively.<\/p>\n
Indonesian rowers paddled their way into three more golds,
\nmaking it the only sport in which Indonesia made a clean sweep.<\/p>\n
After winning four numbers on Friday, Indonesia yesterday took
\nthe women's 800-meter (20 paddler), the men's 800-m 10-men
\nregatta, and the 20-manned traditional boat race.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, host Thailand, already declared the winner,
\ncontinued their winning ways, adding golds in the prestigious
\nsports to put the icing on the cake.<\/p>\n
They won the soccer gold beating Vietnam 4-0 through two goals
\neach by Sripan Tawan and Sritong-in Natipong in the finals last
\nnight.<\/p>\n
Thai men and women spikers claimed both volleyball golds at
\nthe expense of Myanmar and the Philippines respectively, and also
\nboth men's and women's singles tennis golds.<\/p>\n
The Thais laid the foundation for their success by dominating
\ngold-rich events such as swimming, where they won 22 out of 38
\ngolds, shooting with 19 out of 34, and athletics with 21 out of
\n45. The hosts also won all but six of the gymnastics titles,
\nalong with nine out of a possible 19 in weightlifting. Along the
\nway they made inroads in previous preserves of Indonesia, the
\ntraditional sports power in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
Some key injuries and bad luck hounded the rest of the field,
\nwho were otherwise simply outclassed.<\/p>\n
The Thais will likely have another reason to celebrate just
\nbefore the competition ends today.<\/p>\n
All the 12 boxing finals have been saved for last, and given
\nThailand's international record in boxing, they are likely to
\ncome away with a handful more golds today.<\/p>\n
Thailand is represented in all but one of the finals.
\nIndonesia is fielding four finalists.<\/p>\n
More stories on Page 12<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/silat-badminton-save-day-for-indonesia-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }