Indonesia overall winner in rowing at SEA Games
By Novan Iman Santosa
KUALA LUMPUR (JP): The rowing competition ended at the Batu Gombak Reservoir, Selangor, on Thursday with Indonesia taking two more golds to keep its domination intact.
Indonesia won a total of five golds and three silvers in the eight events contested. Thailand finished second with two golds, a silver and two bronzes, ahead of Myanmar which took one gold, one silver and three bronzes.
Host Malaysia was left empty-handed.
On the final day, Indonesia took two of the four golds at stake, one apiece in the men's coxless pair through Agus Budiaji and Iswandi and the individual scull race through Lasmin. The team also collected two silvers on the day.
Agus/Iswandi clocked the best time of 7 minutes 19.38 seconds, leaving Cordova Nestor Ison/Regalado Harvey Vargas of the Philippines more than five seconds behind. Tha Tun/Naing Naing Htoo of Vietnam grabbed bronze on 7:31.57.
Lasmin opened the scoring for Indonesia with victory in the men's 2,000-meter single scull by clocking 7 minutes and 26.75 seconds. He led the pack from the start and only found strong opposition from Filipino Tolentino Benjamin Jr. who was timed at 7:30.17. Piyadanai Pantangthai of Thailand was left behind with 7:48.20 to claim the bronze medal.
"I tried to row consistently because Tolentino would surely overtake me if I let my guard down," Lasmin told reporters.
"I managed to keep my power and win the race," he added.
Chairman of the Indonesian Rowing Association (PODSI) Ahmad Sutjipto expressed his relief, saying the race was tense as Lasmin was dealing with strong opposition.
"Lasmin is indeed the fastest rower in the region but Tolentino and Piyadanai managed to step up the pressure on Lasmin throughout the competition," he said.
However, the national team fared worse in the women's category, losing to Thailand and Myanmar in the last two competitions.
In the women's pair race, Indonesian Wen and Enggelima Ohello, who notched up 7:43.17, had to settle for the runner-up place behind Thailand's Puttharaksa Nikree/Bussayamas Phaengkathok, who clocked 7:29.37. Myanmarese Nhaw Su/Yin Yin Htwe were in third on 7:53.28.
Indonesia, represented by Yayan Nuryati, Ulfiatun Nadiroh, Ismani Makkah and Ariyani, came in second best to Myanmar in the women's coxless team race, with Thailand finishing third for the bronze.
Indonesia won three golds on Wednesday from the men's lightweight double scull when Jamaluddin and Muhammad Anwar clocked 6:41.06, the women's coxless pair through Rita and Susilowati, who clocked 7:44.80, and the men's lightweight coxless four through Jefraim Dododea, Aldino Maryandi, Rodiaman and Rahmat.
Coach Dede Rohmat Nurjaya said his team could have fared better and took more laurels had it not underestimated Myanmar.
"We aimed to produce a clean sweep, but surprisingly Myanmar stole our thunder," Dede said.
He also attributed his team's failed bid to their preparations for the Asian Championships in Beijing, which will be held shortly after the SEA Games.
"It's impossible to reach our peak performance with two events being so close. The SEA Games serve as a chance to measure our skills before the Asian championships," Dede said.
He has named 11 rowers to his Beijing-bound squad.