Chiang Mai's sky turns gray for Indonesian camp

Wed, 13 Dec 1995, 00:00 WIB

CHIANG MAI, Thailand (JP): It was another gray day for
Indonesia yesterday in the Southeast Asian Games as host Thailand
sprinted away to widen the lead in the chase for gold.

The Indonesian camp was further demoralized after its soccer
team crashed out of the competition to lowly rated Vietnam.

Of the 49 gold medals that were at stake yesterday, Indonesia
managed 14, bringing its total gold tally to 24. But Thailand
added 23, including seven from track and fields, for a total of
55 by late yesterday.

The golds Indonesia grabbed yesterday were presented among
others by the women's tennis team despite Yayuk Basuki's upset
defeat in the singles, women weightlifter Patmawati in the 64 kg
category, Ndiken Timotius in the decathlon, the quartet of Deddy
Risdian, Hengky Setiawan, Teguh Pambudi and Yudi Febrianto in the
cycling's 4 km team pursuit and Andri Sudradjat in the cycling
sprint.

Three judokas contributed to the haul of gold: Bayu Kuesna won
the men's middleweight category, Aprilia Marzuki in the women's
middleweight and Suyudani Nimade in the women's half
middleweight. The men's and women's badminton teams and the men's
and women's table tennis teams together gave four golds.

Indonesian officials were not totally dispirited by the
performance of their athletes yesterday, saying that there was
still a chance, albeit merely a mathematical one, for Indonesia
to retain the overall championship title.

"It's still open. It's not over yet," chairman of the
Indonesian Sports Council Wismoyo Arismunandar said. "We hope our
athletes can lift their spirit. There's still a chance."

Mohammad Sarengat, secretary of the Indonesian SEA Games team,
said the "war is not over yet. We still have several battles to
fight, although we lost in some areas."

He pointed out that silat, weightlifting, judo and badminton,
in which Indonesian athletes usually excel, had just begun.

In all, 334 gold medals are at stake, and yesterday the Games
had not even reached the half way stage.

There were indeed brief spells of sun in the Indonesian camp
with three of its boxers Aswin Roberth Cabui, Pino Bahari and
Albeth Papilaya reaching the finals.

The biggest disappointment yesterday came in soccer in which
the match was televised live to millions in Indonesia.

After two fine performances earlier -- 9-0 against lowly
Cambodia and an unexpected 3-0 victory over Malaysia --
Indonesia, which needed only a draw to ensure a place in the
semifinal, turned defensive in the first half and paid dearly
when Huynh Huu-dng found the net in the 40th minute.

In the second half, Indonesia put up a big fight but to no
avail. Instead Indriyanto, Agung and Aples were given the yellow
cards for overzealous tackling.

The win put Vietnam second place behind Thailand with nine
points. The host team topped the A group with 10 points after
beating Cambodia in another match yesterday.

Thailand's domination of the SEA Games was almost complete
with their athletes continuing to run, jump, swim and dive their
way to victory, often smashing old records in the process.

Thailand took all but two golds on offer at the track
yesterday, setting new SEA Games records in the women's high
jump, men's shot put, men's 4x100-meter relay and men's 400
meters hurdles.

In the diving pool, Suchat Pichi won his second gold and third
medal of the games by taking the men's event and Sukratai
Tomma-o-ros won the women's event.

Thailand's swimming sensation Rattapong Srisanont, who
continued to smash SEA Games records in the pool on Monday,
seemed set to repeat his performance on Tuesday.

Rattapong, who holds the Asian Games and SEA Games record in
the 400-meter individual medley, took the first swimming gold on
Tuesday by winning that event.