Home teams victorious as Ligina starts
Home teams victorious as Ligina starts
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Vice President Hamzah Haz opened the 2002 Bank Mandiri
Indonesian Soccer League (Ligina) on Sunday at Bung Karno Stadium
in Senayan, Central Jakarta.
Attending the ceremony was chairman of the Soccer Association
of Indonesia (PSSI) Agum Gumelar, who is also the Minister for
Transportation, as reported by Antara news agency.
Hamzah handed over the soccer ball to the referee, marking the
beginning of the first game between defending champions Persija
Jakarta and PSPS Pekanbaru.
As well as Jakarta, other league games were also held in the
cities of Padang, Bandung, Tangerang, Gresik and Surabaya. Most
of the matches saw the hosts win the day.
In Padang, West Sumatra, host Semen Padang won its first match
after a 2-1 victory over PSMS of Medan, North Sumatra at Haji
Agus Salim Stadium.
PSMS led the match after Zulkarnaen netted the ball in the
fourth minute. Carlos Renato equalized in the 38th minute and
Eliie Aiboy secured the host's victory in the 44th minute.
Meanwhile, a firecracker explosion in the 72nd minute marred
the match between host Persib and Pelita Krakatau Steel of
Cilegon, Banten at Siliwangi Stadium in Bandung.
The explosion, however, did not affect the quality of the
match, in which the host defeated its guest 1-0, with the goal
scored by Yaris Riadi in the 44th minute.
In Tangerang, Banten, a hat trick by captain Nova Zainal in
the 27th, 37th and 75th minutes helped host Persikota of
Tangerang mayoralty crush its guest Persikab of Bandung regency
with a 3-0 victory.
In Gresik, East Java, host Petrokimia Putra Gresik also had
the home advantage, overcoming PSM of Makassar, South Sulawesi 2-
0 at Petrokimia Gresik Stadium.
Widodo Cahyono opened the host's lead in the 17th minute and
Yance Katohang sealed their victory in the 27th minute.
The only host's that lost were in the East Java capital of
Surabaya where host Persebaya was defeated 0-1 by its guest
Gelora Putra Delta (GPD) of neighboring Sidoarjo at Gelora 10
November Stadium.
Michael Boboaken took advantage of a mistake made by Persebaya
defender Agung Widodo in the 56 minute.