Indonesia stumbles in SEA Games tae kwon do
Indonesia stumbles in SEA Games tae kwon do
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (JP): Indonesia had a letdown in the
Southeast Asian (SEA) Games tae kwon do event when no gold medals
went into its coffers at the conclusion of the program on
Wednesday.
During four days of competition, Indonesia only managed to bag
one gold, won by Sinta Berliana Heru in the women's middleweight
on Sunday's opening day. Indonesia also took three silvers,
including one from its lone finalist on Wednesday, Andri Halim,
and six bronzes.
The outcome was a setback, compared to a six gold medal haul
Indonesia notched on home soil two years ago.
It also capped preceding gloomy days for the Indonesian side,
which was still mourning the death of its Olympic hopeful,
Dominggos Boro, who was killed in a car crash in Karawang, West
Java on Tuesday.
At Indonesia's expense, Malaysia and the Philippines topped
the gold medals standing with four each, followed by Vietnam with
three.
Two-time winner Andri narrowly missed his bid to complete a
hat trick of a gold medal on Wednesday, when he was outclassed by
Nguyen Van Hung of Vietnam in the men's heavyweight final. Nguyen
won the bout 5-0.
Bronze medals went to Malaysian Mohd Saleh Zainol Abas and
Philippine's hopeful Gerard Anthony Pingoy.
The Indonesian Tae kwon do Association (TI) chairman, Suharto,
who watched his team's only hope go up in smoke, said he was not
disappointed with the outcome, noting that the national squad was
made up mostly of second stringers.
Indonesia had set a mild target of winning three golds.
"This is a precious lesson for us. The SEA Games is the right
place for our second stringers to feel the pressure of playing in
international competition," Suharto said.
He credited Vietnam's team, which placed its athletes in
almost all of the finals.
Earlier in the day, a protest marred a men's bantamweight
semifinal, in which Indonesia's best hope in the event, Derry
Dermansyah Maulana, lost to eventual champion Jefferthom Go of
the Philippines 3-4. Derry had to be content with the bronze.
Indonesia's South Korean coach Oh Il-nam challenged the
decision, saying the judges were unfair in ignoring Derry's
double kicks in the dying minute.
When Indonesia's protest was ruled out, an angry Oh stood up
in the middle of the stage and took off his jacket before the
referee led him out.
Oh shouted at the judges, denouncing them before he went to
the changing room to calm Derry, who was in tears.
"Don't cry! For me, you are the winner," Oh said to the
athlete.
Oh refused to comment on the controversial decision.
The Philippines' Go took the gold after defeating Duc Son of
Vietnam, who clinched a superiority win over Thailand's Jatupone
Anyamaneewong in the other semifinal.
Two other Indonesian tae kwon do athletes who competed on
Wednesday, women's heavyweight Santi Agustina and women's
bantamweight Desy Nurhayati, also failed in the semifinals.
Santi lost to Thi Thanh On Ho of Vietnam 0-3, while rookie
Desy fought haplessly in her 0-4 defeat to another Vietnamese,
Tran Hieu Ngan. (yan)