Indonesia wins dragon boat race

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia won the Penang International Dragon Boat Invitational after beating ten countries in Malaysia on Sunday.

The Indonesia team consisted of rowers being groomed for the 19th Southeast Asian Games.

They beat the strong Chinese and Hong Kong teams which had to settle for the second and third place respectively.

Indonesia clocked three minutes and 6.54 seconds. China recorded 3:11.14 and Malaysia 3:23.14.

Indonesia also won the Penang Eden Challenge, the Chief Challenge and the International Invitation.

The countries contesting the dragon boat race were Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Hong Kong, China, Australia, Macau and Penang. Each sent three teams.

Indonesia's team manager, Setiawan, said Indonesia was preparing for the Dragon Boat International in Singapore next week and the world championship in Hong Kong.

"The two races in Singapore and Hong Kong will be tight but we have to prove that our team is strong. We do not want to have the world champion title we won in Hong Kong last year going to another country," Setiawan was quoted by Antara as saying. (lnt)