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)