Home jumpers lead after second day of Kopassus Open
Home jumpers lead after second day of Kopassus Open
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian chutists, overcoming rain and fog, ruled the sky in both the men's and women's team accuracy events after the second day of competition in the Kopassus Open International 1994 skydiving championships on Monday.
Host Kopassus-A, the elite army units known for their blood- red berets, led the men's four-men team-accuracy contest with a total score of 0.38.
The women's competition also saw Indonesia's skydivers from the Air Force A team in the drivers' seat, garnering a total score of 0.86.
This, however, does not mean that the Indonesians can now uncork their champagne.
The one-week tournament only managed to complete three rounds out of the required six for both of the team-accuracy events. The site of the contest, in Serang, West Java, was repeatedly interrupted by severe rain and heavy fog.
The red beret team, after all, is only ahead by 0.1 point.
Malaysia, which collectively scored 0.39, came second in the men's four-men team competition.
Malaysia's ace skydiver Sazali Long brilliantly scored two perfect points on the ground by landing right on the "dead center", a feat that earned him 0.01 yesterday.
It was the best score of the event yesterday, which placed the Malaysian as the leading contender in the men's single accuracy contest.
Sumeri, Kopassus A's leading chutist, only managed to finish third in the single event with a score of 0.04.
However, he could not match compatriot Theo Mandagi from the Polsugar A team, a combined team made up of members of the National Police and the Garuda Parachute club, who came second with 0.02.
Meanwhile, Didik Subandi from Kopassus B, who was leading the men's single on Sunday, plummeted to the 18th place, miserably collecting 0.16.
Women
Ike Puji Susilawati, a member of the Indonesian Women's Air Force A team, was the leading contender in Monday's event with a score of 0.17.
Ike was trailed by compatriots Pingkan Mandagi from North Sulawesi who finished second with 0.27 and teammate Ni Puti Mardiani who scored 0.31.
In the women's accuracy-team contest, Ike's colleagues from the Air Force B team finished second with a total of 1.21 points. They are trailed by the women skydivers from the Indonesian Navy who scored 1.32.
The tournament, which is being held to celebrate Kopassus' 42nd anniversary, will also feature relative work and canopy relative work contests -- two events which judge team members' ability to link and form human patterns during their decent.
A total of 136 skydivers from various countries including Russia and Singapore are taking part in the championships which will wind up on June 5. (hdj)