Indonesia triumphs in SEA rowing

Indonesia triumphs in SEA rowing

JAKARTA (JP): Junior athletes spurred the Indonesian team on
to triumph in the fourth Southeast Asian Rowing Championship in
Pasir Ris, Singapore over the weekend.

Budiman Setiawan, secretary-general of the Indonesian Rowing
Association, said in his release yesterday that the national male
and female rowers won the two prestigious events on the final
day, Sunday, to complete their medal haul of eight golds, five
silvers and four bronzes.

The Philippines finished a distant second with four golds, two
silvers and two bronzes, followed by Myanmar which collected two
golds, four silvers and five bronzes.

A total of 109 rowers from six ASEAN members and Cambodia
joined the three-day competition. The annual event will move to
Indonesia next year.

The Southeast Asian Rowing Federation also held a congress
simultaneously with the competition. The congress elected Rear
Admiral (ret.) Sumartono the new chairman of the confederation.

The congress also criticized Thailand for not adopting rowing
in the medal events for the 18th SEA Games, slated for Dec. 9 to
17 in Chiang Mai. Thailand took only a bronze in Pasir Ris.

The upcoming SEA Games will have seven gold medals at stake in
traditional boat races, instead of rowing. Indonesia played down
its formidable clean sweep in the previous Games, saying that it
now sets its sights on just four golds in Chiang Mai. (amd)