Indonesian wrestlers pin down golds

By Christiani S.A. Tumelap

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's wrestlers have a slight edge over Vietnam as action on the mat concludes today.

Host wrestlers stayed atop the medal table after the third day of freestyle wrestling yesterday, adding three golds, one silver and one bronze for a total of seven golds, six silvers and two bronzes.

Breathing down Indonesia's neck is Vietnam with seven golds, three silvers and four bronzes, followed by the Philippines with one gold, four silvers and eight bronzes.

An Indonesian coach, Lowedyk, said he was satisfied with the team's overall performance yesterday.

"We were expecting to get golds. We projected three golds and we got them," he said.

"For Saturday, we are targeting between three and four golds. But, we'll have to be very careful because our strongest rival, Vietnam, will also do their best to seize the golds."

Three of the five Indonesian wrestlers competing yesterday -- Suryadi Gunawan, Andri Fahruriadi and Dialex Sinaga -- won the golds in the 54 kg, 63 kg and 97 kg divisions.

Two other Indonesians, Dedi Damhudi and Sukahar, got silver and bronze in 48 kg and 76 kg.

Dedi was considered to have a good chance of defeating Vietnam's Tran Van Son. He lost by seven points, although he missed several opportunities to gain extra points.

Lowedyk said Dedi's had been unable to stay with Tran during the five-minute bout due to poor stamina.

In the popular 54 kg division, Supriyadi defeated Vietnam's Doi Dang Hy after throwing his opponent approximately halfway through the bout.

Meanwhile, Andri collected his gold in a grueling fight against Vietnam's Nguyen Hu Dinh.

Andri was given two parterre sanctions for excessive passivity during the bout.

He handled the difficult situation by producing impressive rollovers from the kneeling position to turn the tables on the Vietnamese. Andri won 4-1.

Compatriot Sinaga was involved in a highly aggressive bout against Philippine Alex Valdez in the last matchup of the night.

Sinaga, who was warned by the referee for throwing his opponent to the side, collected his points gradually to produce four one-point and one three-point. Valdez produced a single one- point in the 1-8 loss.