Mardi Lestari proves he's still the best

Mardi Lestari proves he's still the best

JAKARTA (JP): Mardi Lestari lived up to his billing as
Indonesia's best sprinter when he dashed to the men's 100m
victory in the Indonesia Open Track and Field Championships at
Madya Senayan stadium yesterday.

Though Mardi's mark of 10.48 seconds was good enough to win
yesterday, the time was far off his national record mark of 10.20
at the 1989 National Games in Jakarta.

"Yet Mardi's time is good enough for the upcoming Asian Track
and Field Championships," noted Pieter Noya, who is preparing
Indonesia's track and field team for the Dec. 9-17 Southeast
Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Noya is also in charge of
the national squad's preparations for the Asia championships
slated here for Sept. 20 to 24.

Mardi's national 4X100m relay teammate Erwin Heru Susanto came
second with 10.59, followed by Agus Ngamel who set 10.66. Another
national relay team member Khodik Juntasi finished only fourth
with 10.78.

"The time I set is enough. The most important thing is that I
was always in the forefront," Mardi told The Jakarta Post.

"It was an easy win," said Mardi, who is planning to get
married in October.

But Noya added that Mardi ran badly. "He looked back several
times. He did not need to do that while running at such a high
speed," Noya said.

Sri Lankan athletes stole the show yesterday. Women's long
jumper Anusha Kariyawasam leapt 5.82m to beat SEA Games Rabaiya
of South Sulawesi. Rabaiya managed only 5.79m, leaving her
national record of 6.22m safe.

Another Sri Lankan, Thamara Saman Deepika won the women's 100m
in yesterday's final in 11.77. She was 0.20 seconds ahead of
Nitje Durand of North Sulawesi. Rabaiya, who also competed in the
event, finished third with 12.17.

Sri Lanka also excelled at the men's 400m hurdles. Mahesh
Parera, who gave Sri Lanka its first gold with his 110m hurdles
victory on Thursday, clocked 53.18 seconds to beat Herman Mandagi
of North Sulawesi and national record holder Herman Balagaise of
Irian Jaya. Balagaise recorded his best time of 51.57 in the 1993
SEA Games in Singapore.

Sri Lanka's coach, Lt. Cdr. Shemal Fernando, told the Post
that he is using the open tournament to improve the performance
of his athletes for December's South Asian Federation Games in
India. (arf)