Karate team strikes first gold for RI
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Mandaue City, Cebu
The national men's and women's karate team defeated archrivals Malaysia in the kumite finals on Sunday for the country's first gold medals of the Games in Philippines.
"We are halfway ahead of Malaysia," delighted Indonesian Karate-do Federation(Forki) chairman Luhut Pandjaitan said after the victory.
"I am glad to see our athletes fight very well to win golds and I hope these golds will continue in the following days.
Faisal Zainuddin also added one silver medal for Indonesia in the individual kata competition later in day.
Forki has set a target of five gold this year, one better than its haul at the Vietnam Games in 2003.
At the Mandaue City Sport Complex, the Indonesian women's team beat Thailand in the first round and Myanmar in the semifinals, before scoring a momentous 10-8 win over Malaysia in the final.
Nurahmi K. S. was in inspired form, thrashing Malaysia's Vasantha Marial 4-0 by combining powerful strikes to the face with a solid defense.
Top national women's karateka Jeanny Zennet came close to beating Jamalliah but was unable to hold on to a 2-0 lead with only a minute to go. The Malaysian fought back to tie.
There was a lot riding on the performance of third karateka Telly Melinda. Although she succumbed 4-6 to Yamini, Indonesia won on aggregate, finally getting the gold after back-to-back silvers in the 2001 and 2003 Games.
In the men's kumite final, Christo Mandolu fought to a 1-1 draw with Puvaneswaran R, which was followed by a 2-2 tie between Bambang Maulidin and Malaysian Kunasilan L.
But Umar Syarif, the 2003 gold medalist in the 80kg division and the winner of the European Master Cup in August, had a comfortable win over Mahendran S.
It was then up to 21-year-old Donny Dharmawan to lock up the gold for Indonesia, dismissing Jervis Anak Julian of Malaysia 7-2.
"Our strategy worked well against Malaysia," national karate team manager Madju Dharyanto said. "When the Malaysians prepared right hand attacks, we were ready with left hand attacks. It confused them and made it impossible for them to develop their rhythm."
Indonesia, which was the bronze medalist in Vietnam, also mixed up its final formation, from the lineup of Bambang, Umar and Donny from the early rounds.
Madju praised the fighting spirit of his athletes, especially the suprising performance of Nurahmi and Donny.
"We are also surprised to see that karatekas like Nurahmi and Donny could win their bouts in the finals because we put our expectations on other karatekas to contribute the victories."