Honors shared in pool as RI sprinter wins
Honors shared in pool as RI sprinter wins
By Sylvia Gratia Miranda
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and Thailand went neck-and-neck in the
pool yesterday with three gold medals apiece, but the day
rightfully belonged to hometown boy Richard Sam Bera.
In a fitting swan song to his distinguished Games career,
Richard won the 50 meters freestyle in 23.40, edging Raymond Papa
of the Philippines (23.78) and Singaporean Ying Wah Kwok (23.83).
Richard's time was still outside the record of 23.27 by Ang
Peng Siong of Singapore at the 1989 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.
In the 200 meters women's breaststroke, Rita Mariani of
Indonesia sliced off 1.53 seconds from Joscelin Yeo's record of
2:34.87.
Singapore's Yu Fen May Ooi and compatriot Zhi Mei Daphe Teo
were second and third.
Indonesia's third gold was bagged in the 4x100 meters women's
medley relay in a new Games record of 4:19.23, breaking
Singapore's 4:20.30 from 1993.
Sylvi Triana, Rita Mariani, Catherine Surya and Meitri W.
Pangestika were the members of the winning squad.
Thailand took the silver (4:24.44) and Singapore (4:25.41) the
bronze.
Swimming the second leg, Rita took over from Thailand's
Vorathamrong Chonlathorn, and the Indonesians were never in
danger of being caught.
Rita was surprised by the win. "I thank the audience for their
great support."
Traditional swimming powerhouse Thailand emerged from its
unfamiliar position in the shadow of the hosts to wrest three
golds and two silvers.
Ratapong Sirisanont, who swam disappointingly Monday to finish
last in the men's 200 meters individual medley, redeemed himself
with gold in the men's 200 meters breaststroke (2:18.70),
followed by Malaysian Chia Elvin (2:21.10) and Chee Wei Bryan of
Singapore (2:22.36).
Ravee Intporn-Udom triumphed in the women's 200 meters
freestyle (2:05.33).
Indonesia's Meitri and Catherine Surya joined her on the medal
podium.
In the 1,500 meters men's freestyle, Torlarp Sethsothorn gave
Thailand its third gold in 16:00.39. He was followed by his
brother Torwai (16:02.21) and Malaysian Ung Die (16:08.87)
Indonesia has far surpassed its original target of four golds
with nine first-place finishes, with six events still to be
contested.
The chairman of the National Sports Council, Wismoyo
Arismunandar, said gold medalists would receive bonuses, but he
did not state what form these would take.
Swim team manager Anangga Rusdiono termed the unexpected golds
"a dream come true".
Ginandjar Kartasasmita, patron of the Indonesian Swimming
Association, said he was pleased as the squad was mainly
comprised of young swimmers trained by local young trainers.
"I'm glad because we now have swimmers with potential," he
said.
In diving, Thailand stamped its supremacy by completing a
clean sweep of all four gold medals from men's and women's
events. Pitchi Suchart won the men's 10 meter platform
competition with 619 points after four preliminary dives.
Second and third were Indonesia's Husaini Noor (556.75) and
Malaysian Yeoh Ken Nee (535.95).