Jakarta, Central Java lead track and field
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Palembang
Jakarta and Central Java took two gold medals each on the second day of the track and field competition, which again had some uninspiring performances at the National Games here on Tuesday.
Jakarta collected its golds through Nunung Jayadi in the men's pole vault and Achmed Sakeh in the men's 200-meter dash while Darminah and Mujianto were Central Java's gold medalists in the women's discus throw and men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, respectively.
East Java, North Sulawesi, South Sumatra and West Kalimantan also joined the medal celebration by picking up one gold medal each.
But the celebrations were a bit muted as most of the athletes fell short of their on personal bests.
The lone highlight on the track was in the women's discus throw in which Darminah managed to break the Games record to win the gold for Central Java. Her throw of 45.97 meters was an improvement from the previous record of 45.95 meters.
Darminah beat fellow Central Java thrower Dwi Ratnawati, who had a 45.49-meter throw and Winda Dianita of South Sumatera, with 40.78 meters.
Nunung took a shot at 5.15 meters in a bid to break the national record of 5.13 he set up in 2002. But he failed to surpass the national mark, blaming the pole he used for the failure.
"I was really looking to breaking my record in this PON. I'm not happy with merely winning gold. But it was difficult to break the record as the type of pole that I am using is different than the one I was using in 2002.
"It was type 80 back then. This is type 77," Nunung told reporters on Tuesday.
Nunung said that his type 80 pole got broken and could not be used anymore. He said he had been trying to get a new pole but instead he was given a type 77.
"I only had three months of preparation. My pole got broken three weeks ago. There was not much time to get a new one so I had to stick with this one," he said.
Nunung had to be content with a 5.00-meter jump to win the gold. His brother Saini grabbed a silver after he managed to jump 4.20 meters and Hendiarsin Oslan gave Central Kalimantan the bronze with an equal mark, but Saini got over the height on his first jump, while Oslan missed the first two attempts and settled for bronze.
Achmed Sakeh ran the 200 in 21.00 seconds to win gold, leaving behind Papua's John Murray in 21.21 seconds and West Nusa Tenggara's Kurais in 21.59 seconds.
Central Java's other gold was contributed by Mujianto who won the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9 minutes 23.07 seconds.
The West Java duo of Abdulmanan and Fathurrohman finished in second and third with times of 9:29.15 and 9:37.73, respectively.
In the other events, Deysi Sumigar of North Sulawesi beat record holder Irene Truitje Joseph to win the women's 200 meters. Desy clocked a time of 24.30 seconds.
Irene ran 24.87 seconds, which was far from her own personal best of 23.86, which she ran in Brunei 1999. Yulia Novita took the bronze in 25.37 seconds.
Edwin Patileamonia of West Kalimantan triumphed in the men's 800-meter run with a time of 1 minute 52.83 while East Java's Ester Sumah won in the women's category in 2 minutes 12.16 seconds.
Ong Kok Hin of South Sumatra won men's hammer throw in 52.16 meters.