Indonesia ranks second in shooting

Indonesia ranks second in shooting

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): Vietnam took the final two shooting golds
yesterday, putting paid to the host's bid to regain the top spot
in the event's medal standings.

Thailand had edged ahead of Indonesia in the medal standings
on Thursday.

In the individual contest Saturday, host shooter Iriantoni was
sixth as gold went to Nguyen Quoc Cuong.

Thai Panichpatikum Jakkrit tied with Dionesa Innocentes of the
Philippines, but he was awarded silver because of better average
scores.

"It was not easy to win the gold because I had to face strong
rivals in the match," Nguyen said. "But I'm very grateful for the
medal."

With 1,727 points, Vietnam's team trio again showed their
skills in center fire pistol.

Thailand (1,699) won silver and bronze was garnered by the
Philippines (1,697).

Indonesia ranked fifth in the 20-meter range event.

Indonesian shooting team manager, Sita Dewi Razni, said she
was not disappointed by the failure to win the medals after an
otherwise successful week.

"Indonesian shooters had no target in the two categories, and
their skills were relatively lower than those of other
participating countries," Sita said.

"But, we're proud with our results in these Games because we
have exceeded our target to get five golds, and we fought hard to
win."

The performance was a vast improvement on the previous Games
in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which are considered the worst of the
nation's participation in shooting.

Indonesia could only muster two golds, three silvers and three
bronzes.

But Indonesia had kept within close range throughout the
Jakarta Games.

Of the nine participating countries competing in 21
categories, the host ranked second with 11 golds, five silvers
and eight bronzes, while Thailand topped the tally with 12 golds
and 15 silvers.

Vietnam was third with eight golds, 16 silvers and four
bronzes.

Thai shooting team manager, Bumag Bhattakara, was satisfied
that his shooters had performed better than skilled counterparts
from Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.

"We'll watch closely for them in the next Games. But, we had
prepared ourselves this time and worked hard to deserve this
win," he said.

Malaysia was in the fourth position with four golds, four
silvers and five bronzes, followed by Singapore with four golds
and four bronzes.