Indonesia bags two golds at LG Cup

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Indonesia tae kwon do athletes struck gold in the final matches on Sunday, but were unable to stop the Vietnamese onslaught as the visitors grabbed another four golds for a total of 12.

Derry Darmansyah in the men's bantamweight division and Amalia Kurniasih in the women's heavyweight division were Indonesia's gold medalist on the last day of the two-day 7th LG ASEAN Tae Kwon Do Championship.

Derry defeated fellow countryman Gerry Permadi 8-5 in the final, while Amalia put a 6-4 win over M. Maria Estela B. of the Philippines in a thrilling final match.

"Gerry is the toughest fighter I faced in this championship," said Derry, the 2004 National Games and the 2003 SEA Games gold medalist.

Amalia launched into her final match on the attack, but Maria Estela refused to bow down, turning the match into a nail biter.

A combination right-left kick earned Amalia a 3-2 in the first round, a one-point lead she kept through the second round. The Indonesian built up to a 5-3 lead before wrapping the match 6-4.

"I have proved that I can do the job well, even over well- known athletes such as Estela," Amalia said after her victory.

Vietnam took the championship with a dozen golds with Indonesia in a distant second with two, followed by Malaysia and the Philippines, each with a single gold -- the Philippines made third place thanks to its collection of seven silvers against Malaysia's three.

However, the Philippines' single gold was won in a controversial manner by women's middleweight fighter Criselda Roxa, with opponent Chew Chew Chan of Malaysia refusing to continue the fight just 10 seconds into the final round, citing unfair refereeing.

Cambodia, Myanmar, Singapore and Timor Leste all came up empty in their gold run.

At the junior level, Indonesia won three more golds for a tally of five, with Sunday's victories contributed by Selvyana Rosok, Siska Permata and M. Riski.

The Philippines' young fighters won seven golds to top the junior standings, while Vietnam took second place with six, followed by Indonesia.

In the combined senior and junior standings, Vietnam was in first place with 18 golds, followed by the Philippines with nine, Indonesia with seven and Malaysia, one.

Heavyweight fighter Nguyen Tan Hung of Vietnam was named best men's athlete and Amalia secured best women's athlete, while in the junior category, Paulo Miguel Angeles of the Philippines and Indonesia's Siska Permata took honors.