East Kalimantan grabs wrestling championship

East Kalimantan grabs wrestling championship

Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Makassar, South Sulawesi

East Kalimantan won the President's Cup at the 23rd National
Wrestling Championships while the West Java squad was declared
the tournament's best performer at the Mattoangin Sports Hall on
Saturday.

East Kalimantan's athletes collected the highest point tally
with 102. North Sumatra followed in second place with Central
Java finishing third.

West Java concluded the six-day competition in fourth
position.

West Java was involved in a close rivalry with East Kalimantan
throughout the championship, with the former dominating the
freestyle division and the latter stronger in the Greco Roman
division.

The organizing committee picked the home team's Hermansyah,
who won a gold medal on the final day, as the best wrestler in
the Greco Roman division while Boyke Samosir of Lampung earned
the same recognition in the freestyle division.

Boyke earned a gold medal for his contingent after defeating
Jhony Ringgo of East Kalimantan.

The tournament, which ran from Oct. 8, featured 169 wrestlers
from 19 provinces.

The Indonesian Wrestling Association (PGSI) used the
tournament to select athletes ahead of the Southeast Asian
Wrestling Championships, which will be held in Jakarta next
month.

"We are optimistic that our wrestlers will be competitive at
the regional event," PGSI chairman Andi Ghalib said at the
closing ceremony. He was accompanied by Putera Astaman, a
representative of the National Sports Council (KONI).

Meanwhile, North Sumatra was chosen as the host for the 2002
championships. The decision was made at the organization's
meeting on Thursday.