Indonesia overall winner in rowing at SEA Games
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.