Indonesia dominates pencak silat c'ship
Indonesia dominates pencak silat c'ship
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian fighters showed their dominance on
the first day of the 2000 Pencak Silat World Championship at
Pencak Silat Center in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah on Wednesday.
Indonesia deployed eleven fighters in both the men's and
women's divisions but two of them had to make early exits.
Tina Martina was easily beaten 0-5 by Trinh Thi Muy of Vietnam
in the women's C (55-60kgs) class while Alfana also had to bow
out 0-5 to Mastura binte Sapuan of Malaysia in the women's D (60-
65kgs) class.
Teammate Septi Hariandja managed to beat Wendy Pieters of
Belgium 4-1 in the women's E (65-70kgs) class. Septi will see
Evangeline Caguiqoa of the Philippines, who beat Spaniard
Magdalena Sofia.
Dwi Damayanti ousted Norsharina of Brunei Darussalam 5-0 in
the F (70-75kgs) class and is scheduled to meet Le Thi Hong Ngoan
of Vietnam, who beat Carol Pearce of Australia.
In the men's division, Abdul Karim had an easy victory as
opponent Nguyen Thant Thuy was declared overweight in the A (45-
50kgs) class. Abdul will face Khairul Almin of Brunei Darussalam
in Friday's semifinal match.
Playing in the D (60-65kgs) class, Abas Akbar crushed Spaniard
Rico Rodriguez 5-0. The 1999 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games medalist
will meet Dutch Roy E. Josefzoon in the quarterfinals.
In the E (65-70kgs) class, Haris Nugroho eliminated Dutch Jan
van Houten 5-0 to face Malaysian Nordin bin Atan in the
quarterfinals.
Fentje Roike Maengkom defeated Dutch Martijn Houwerzul 5-0 in
the F (70-75kgs) class. Fentje is to take on Ronald Perena of the
Philippines in the quarterfinals.
In the G (75-80kgs) class, Rony Syaifullah overcame Belgian
Verduin Jan 4-1. Rony will face Pascal Seifenhofer of
Switzerland, who beat Italian Emiliano Ruggeri, in the
quarterfinals.
Sigit Infantoro eliminated Roberto Chiong of the Philippines
in the H (80-85kgs) class to see Peter Raumuaf of Austria who
beat Spaniard Blazquez Villaescusa Alberto in the quarterfinals.
Samuel Mallo also beat his opponent Landajo Echavarria of
Spain in the heaviest J class (90-95kgs). Samuel will challenge
Frenchman David Sebastian, who beat Tony Shergill of the United
Kingdom.
Commenting on the fighters form on the opening day, head coach
Suhartono admitted that Indonesia had to work hard as currently
other countries were speeding up in developing the sport.
"Several European countries and Vietnam have shown a great
improvement specially in the women's division. For our side, we
neglected regeneration by relying too much on veteran fighters in
previous SEA Games," he told reporters.
"We must be very careful especially with Vietnam because they
have the best women fighters now."
Suhartono was responsible for developing Vietnam fighters
under a five-year contract which ended recently.
"When compared to European fighters, we still have better
skills but lack of physical qualities such as stamina and
postures. We have to develop special tactics to beat them," he
said.
"Anyway, we must be proud that currently the power is evenly
distributed among participating countries. On the other hand,
Indonesian fighters have to train and work harder to keep up the
lead."
Later in the evening, the championship saw the qualifying
rounds for martial arts events in both divisions.
On Thursday, the championship will continue with qualifying
rounds for other weight-classes. (nvn)