N. Sumatra scores triple victory in wushu event
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Palembang
The wushu competition at the 16th National Games (PON) started on Friday with four golds on offer.
North Sumatra took three gold medals and Central Java grabbed the other.
North Sumatra won three golds in the men's taiji quan category, as well as men's and women's dao shu, while Central Java won gold in the women's taiji quan category.
The success was welcomed by North Sumatra officials and supporters, who cheered lustily after the competition at the Pertamina sports compound.
In men's taiji quan, Howandy Santoso of North Sumatra won the gold, Matius Joko Wahyono S of East Java took the silver and Franky Yulianto of South Kalimantan won the bronze.
In men's dao shu, Central Java's Seno Prakoso took the gold, followed by Hartono Jaya N of South Sumatra, who won silver, and Gora Nebulana of Jakarta took the bronze.
In women's taiji quan, Jainab of North Sumatra took the gold with her impressive performance.
She booked an average score of 91.5 to win the gold, followed by Linda Sagita of East Java, who won silver with a score of 90.5 and Dwi Arimbi of North Sumatra, who won bronze with a score of 90.5.
In women's daoshu, North Sumatra's Nurdiana won the gold by scoring an average of 90.6 points, passing East Java's Yuliana Kurniawan who was settled with silver on 89.1 points and Christine Agustine of West Java with bronze on 88.8 points.
Wushu's sanshou was also held on Friday, but is still in the preliminary stages.
On Saturday, the wushu competition will see four more gold medal events in men's chanquan, women's chanquan, men's qiang shu and women's qiang shu.
Men's jianshu, women's jianshu, men's gun shu and women's gun shu finals will be held on Sunday while men's nanquan, women's nanquan will be held on Monday.
There are a total of 14 gold medals from Friday to Monday up for grabs at the wushu venue.
In PON 2000 in East Java, wushu athletes from Java swept all medals available in the wushu competition.