Jakarta back on top of national sporting gala

Jakarta back on top of national sporting gala

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post/Palembang

Jakarta reclaimed the National Games crown after finishing
ahead of other provinces competing in the 16th Games -- which is
held quadrennially -- here on Monday.

Jakarta -- which had been the dominant force until East
Jakarta toppled it in 2000 -- topped the standings with 141 gold
medals in the championship, which ran from Sept. 2.

Monday marked the end of the competition, although the closing
ceremony will be staged on Tuesday.

The outgoing champion, East Java, had to settle for second
place with 76 gold medals, meaning that the team narrowly escaped
further embarrassment after trailing West Java throughout the
championship.

West Java had an identical number of gold medals, but it
achieved third place due to its inferior silver collection -- 77
compared to East Java's 79.

Central Java completed the domination of teams from Java by
taking fourth place, with 55 golds followed by South Sumatra -- a
distant fifth with 29 golds.

Jambi -- which emerged as the biggest medal winner in swimming
-- Lampung -- which was a strong contender in weight lifting --
Papua, East Kalimantan and South Sulawesi made it to the top ten.

The defeat of East Java -- although it had been expected prior
to the championship -- left the team complaining, partly over the
reduced number of medals available in their favorite sports.

"We lost to Jakarta, partly due to the fact that the number of
medals in our favorite sports, like archery and cycling, were
sharply reduced," Irwantara Subagyo, a team official, said.

"For example archery medals were reduced from 33 to 22," he
said.

"We have come short of meeting our medal target in some
sports, like equestrian events, rowing and gymnastics," he added.

Jakarta continued its medal onslaught on Monday, when its
kempo squad brought home five golds of nine on offer.

In addition, the team from the capital city stole two golds in
the wrestling competition and one in tae kwon do.

Central Java won two and West Java took one -- which made the
two equal in the tae kwon do gold haul, with six medals each.

Aceh ended its competition with another two golds in weight
lifting.

The wins were hailed by the Acehnese team, with Rayuan Sukma,
the deputy chairman of the Aceh chapter of the National Sports
Council (KONI) announcing cash bonuses for its successful
athletes.

"Rp 40 million is allocated for a gold medalist. Some bonuses
will be given to those who can break records in the Games," he
said.

Overall, Lampung lived up to its status as the country's
weight lifting stronghold by collecting five of 15 golds on
offer.

Although all 41 sports completed their matches, the medal
winner in soccer is yet to be sealed after the final match
between East Java and Papua was scraped due to poor floodlights
-- the two teams were left tied at 1-1.