Indonesia and Thailand rule wave

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.