Indonesia wins two golds in karate

COPENHAGEN (JP): Indonesia managed to win two golds and one bronze in the Danish Open karate championships here this weekend.

Team manager Darwan Siregar said he was satisfied with the six athletes' performance in the championships, in which 16 countries competed. The championships are also being used as a warmup to the 20th Southeast Asian Games in Brunei Darussalam in August.

Umar Syarief, who lost in the 1998 Asian Games first round, unexpectedly won the gold in the open class and was selected as best player.

Another gold went to Arief Taufan, also an Asiad gold medalist, in the 60 kilogram division. Isfan Tanjung earned the bronze in the 60kg class.

"We are surprised with Umar's good performance and proud of him as he managed to win the gold. While Arief and Isfan, who competed in the same division, are well-known in Europe after winning several tournaments in Scandinavia," Darwan said.

However, he expressed disappointment that Sandra Ariani, who competed in the 52kg division, failed to perform her best.

"Sandra rushed herself during the competition and spoiled her chance of going through to the semifinals. We expected her to win us the gold but apparently we lost it," he said. (yan)