Lackluster Lisa still unchallenged to win gold

Moch. N. Kurniawan The Jakarta Post/Palembang

Indonesia's Olympic silver medalist Lisa Rumbewas put in a lackluster performance but was still able to earn Papua a gold on the opening day of the weightlifting competition at the National Games here on Saturday.

Teams outside Java dominated the competition, leaving their Javanese rivals empty-handed on a day when there were six gold medals up for grabs.

Lisa lived up to expectations, winning the gold for Papua in the women's 53-kilogram event, but her total lift of 202.5 kilograms was far lighter than her performance in Athens where she lifted 210 kilograms.

She did manage to improve in the clean-and-jerk category, from 115 kilograms in Athens to 117.5 kilograms, but she flopped in the snatch category, scoring only 85 kilograms compared to 95 kilograms.

"Well, I tried to lift 90 kilograms in the third attempt. I was still steadying myself when the jury called that my time was over. So I had to be content with 85," she said.

Lisa considered the win a birthday present. She was born on Sept. 10, 1980.

"I wanted this gold. I wished I could have improved my Athens performance here," Lisa said, who made a controversial move when she walked out of the Olympic Games athletes' camp in Jakarta in protest before leaving for Athens, demanding her mother be allowed to accompany her on the trip. Her demand was met and she won a silver at the Olympics.

Papua team official Adwin Ratulangi Ichwan said he was delighted Lisa had won gold for the province and said she would receive a bonus.

"We have provided around Rp 30 million each for all our gold medalists," he said.

Okta Dwi Pramita of Lampung took silver with a total lift of 195 kilograms, while Isauna of West Kalimantan went home with bronze with a total lift of 157.5 kilograms.

Lisa's victory for Papua marked dominant performance by teams from outside Java with Lampung, the country's weightlifting stronghold, snatching two golds.

Jambi, Riau and South Kalimantan joined in the heavy metal celebrations with a gold apiece.

Jadi Setiadi and Gustar were Lampung gold medalists in the men's 56-kilogram and 62-kilogram categories.

Jadi booked a total lift of 270 kilograms followed by Agus of South Kalimantan with a lift of 257 kilograms and Suryadi of Jakarta with 255 kilograms.

Gustar powered to a total lift of 287.5 kilograms, followed by Sunarto of Jakarta with 282.5 kilograms and Nusianto of Lampung with 277.5 kilograms.

Rosmaniar of Jambi won the women's 48-kilogram class with a total lift of 177.5 kilograms, followed by Supeni of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam with 175 kilograms, and Citra Febriyanti of Lampung with 170 kilograms.

Fatmawati of Riau proved too strong for her opponents, scoring a total lift of 210 kilograms to break the National Games record of 190 kilograms in the women's 58-kilogram class.

Titin Lestari of South Kalimantan won silver. Her lift was 30 kilograms below the gold winner, while Badriah of West Java, who lifted 172.5 kilograms, took bronze.

In the women's 63-kilogram class, Prapti Tri S of South Kalimantan won the gold with a total lift of 215 kilograms, followed by Tanti Pratiwi of Central Java with 212.5 kilograms and Andi Susmanti of Jakarta with 175 kilograms.