Indonesia and Thailand rule wave

By Innocentius Christianto

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and Thailand won five gold medals each and Singapore snatched four in the 19th SEA Games yachting finals in Jakarta Bay yesterday.

Oka Sulaksana was the first of the five Indonesians to step on to the podium after scoring a nearly perfect three points to retain the Mistral Heavy Weight title he won in the previous Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand two years ago.

Moohammedkasem Suhaimee of Thailand made it 21 and Arlie Juarez of the Philippines scored 54.3 for the silver and bronze respectively.

Oka attributed his successful title defense to a rigorous overseas stint in Britain and Germany two months ago and a few weeks of training in his home town of Denpasar.

In Race Board Heavy Weight, Malik Faisal cruised to another gold for Indonesia with a flawless score. Rangaphit Pradap of Thailand took the silver on 32, with Rocky Sian Thoh Cheang of Malaysia in a distant third with 51.6.

Yuni Trisnawati made a golden debut in the Games, winning the Mistral Women with nine points. Thai's Witchithong Amara came second on 15, followed by Singapore's Lee Ling Ng who scraped to the bronze with 54.

Indonesia's unfancied team of Joko Susilo Soeprapto and Subakti Suparmuji sprang a surprise, beating Somkiat Poonpat and Saichol Chowandee of Thailand in the Enterprise class.

Puji Ganefo Soeprapto and Kris Biantoro Soeprapto joined the Indonesian goldrush in their Fireball. They scored 15 to narrowly beat Singapore's Wern Haw Tan and Yi Yong Lim. The bronze went to Vinal Vongtim and Niwat Triyot of Thailand.

At the Jatiluhur reservoir, Indonesia and the Philippines won two golds each in rowing, leaving the remaining two to Thailand and Vietnam.

The tandem of Suparto and Taryanto rowed 2,000 meters in seven minutes and 14.89 seconds to give the host team the men's double sculls gold medal.

In the traditional boat races, Indonesia and Myanmar shared the glory, winning two golds apiece.