Host cycling riders gain mixed results
Host cycling riders gain mixed results
By Dwi Atmanta
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian cycling queen Nurhayati grabbed her
fourth gold medal in as many races in the 19th Southeast Asian
Games yesterday, but her male teammates faltered.
It was an all-Indonesian affair in the women's point race
yesterday as Nurhayati scored 41 to finish first ahead of sister
and teammate Nuraeni who collected 31 points after completing 60
laps in the Rawamangun velodrome.
The rest of the pack managed only to complete between 55 and
58 laps, with Clarissa Regis of the Philippines taking the bronze
on 12 points.
Nurhayati is now setting her sight on completing a five-gold
sweep in today's individual road race.
"I'm looking forward to winning tomorrow's race after this
successful day," 26-year-old rider said.
Nurhayati won all the previous three women's competitions: 20-
kilometer individual time trial, 3,000m individual pursuit and
sprint.
Her victory yesterday took Indonesia's medals tally in cycling
at eight out of 12 golds already up for grabs. Six golds are
remaining in the sport until the last day of competition
tomorrow.
Singapore's Bernard Wong denied Indonesia of its quest for 100
percent record in point races with a historic upset win over host
best bets Henky Setiawan and brother Herry Janto. It was
Singapore's first gold in SEA Games cycling competition.
Henky and Herry produced a number of brilliant breaks between
them on their way to completing 90 laps. Henky topped the
scoreboard on 46, but to everybody's surprise Wong was declared
the winner for making one lap more than the rest of the pack.
Wong managed only three points.
A dejected Henky had to settle for the silver, while the
bronze went to Malaysia's Murugaya Kumaresan.
Indonesian coach Wahyu Hidayat, despite his disappointment,
said he would not lodge an appeal against the decision.
"The upset defeat should serve as a dear lesson. The lack of
information and strategy cost our victory," Wahyu said.
Both Herry and Henky admitted they overlooked the minnow
Singaporean, saying they were too busy with checking their
Malaysian and the Philippine rivals. (amd)