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.