Mixed bag for host in Games
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia excelled in unexpected areas in the 19th Southeast Asian Games yesterday but slipped up in some favored sports.
Shooting, gymnastics, swimming and other fields that Indonesia has long failed to dominate gave the host more gold in one day than was ever found in the Busang mine in East Kalimantan.
Richard Sam Bera proved he was invincible in the sprints in the pool, splashing his way to the men's 50 meter freestyle in 23.40 seconds. It was a happy ending for 26-year-old Sam who has announced his retirement and is about to start "a normal life" after spending 19 years in the pool.
A few minutes later, Rita Mariani garnered her second gold with a win in the women's 200m breaststroke in 2:40.42, leaving Singapore's Joscelin Yeo's Games record of 2:34.87 in tact.
Rita also anchored the Indonesian with Catherine Surya, Silvy Triana and Meitri Widya Pangestika to grab the 4x100m freestyle relay gold in a new Games record of 4:19.23. They shaved 1.70 seconds off the Singaporean team's mark set in 1993.
But yesterday was a disappointment in the sports in which the country has long reigned supreme. Supriati Sutono salvaged Indonesia's pride on the track as Thailand stepped up a gear, while host lifters closed the day with no gold medals for the first time since the weight lifting competition kicked off last Sunday.
Supriati outpaced Malaysian Yuan Yu Fang for the second time in as many duels. The 26-year-old Indonesian soldier clocked 34:02:26 en route to the 10,000m title. She shattered the old record set by compatriot Rumini Sudragni by 19.17 seconds.
Silver medalist Yuan and bronze medalist Mar Win Win of Maynmar also broke the record.
Thailand ruled the roost in track and field yesterday, winning four golds from the men's and women's 400m hurdles, the women's javelin and women's high jump.
Taekwondo, Indonesia's regular gold mine, wound up yesterday with Indonesia finishing on a low note, winning only one gold through Umi Alfiah, whose narrow victory over Thailand's Usa Sinlapajarn sparked controversy over bribery allegations.
Four golds in shooting and cycling respectively, three in gymnastics, two in swimming and martial art events pencak silat and wushu helped Indonesia maintain its firm grip on the overall medals title.
It came closer to surpassing the 100 gold medal mark as it took a commanding overnight lead in the medals standings with 92 golds, 43 silvers and 55 bronzes, with the rest of the pack trailing far behind.
Indonesia's golds collection is more than double that of the Thais, who have 45 golds, 46 silvers and 37 bronzes. The Philippines is third with 21 golds, 25 silvers and 46 bronzes.
Indonesian team spokesman Fritz E. Simanjuntak said the host expected to reap golds from boxing, fencing, judo, gymnastics, pencak silat, karate and swimming in the next two days.
Boxing will see seven Indonesians competing in today's 11 finals. The same number will be representing the pre-tournament favorite Thailand.
It was middleweight Albert Papilaya who stole the limelight yesterday. He punched his way to the final with a third-round knock-out win over Mario Tizon of the Philippines and set up a showdown with Thailand's Bancha Morison, who outpointed Rajah Maideen Majid of Malaysia.
The ball is in Indonesia's court in tennis after local players advanced to the semifinals in men's and women's singles, and women's doubles.
Top seeded Andrian Raturandang, who played a pivotal role in his team winning the men's team event Tuesday, served up a double bagel for Filipino Benny Junio yesterday in the men's singles.
He plays Thailand's Paradorn Srichapan in the final four.
In the women's singles, Indonesians Wynne Prakusya and Wukirasih Sawondari are through to the semifinals. (team)