Nurdiana wins second gold for N. Sumatra

Moch. N. Kurniawan The Jakarta Post/Palembang

Nurdiana of South Sumatra grabbed her second gold on Saturday at the 16th National Games (PON) after she scored the highest points in the qiangshu of the wushu competition here on Saturday.

She won her first gold in the daoshu event on Friday. Basking in being the favorite on Saturday, Nurdiana slipped early in contest before recovering to score the best points of 9.05 to hand North Sumatra its fourth gold medal.

"I just tried to do my best," she said, adding that her rivals Evone Kumalasari and Fitri Santoso from Jakarta had been tough.

"I have won two golds, which surpasses my target," she said in delight. She said she had lost her balance on a wet section of the floor.

Nurdiana added a silver from the changquan event to her medal collection. She was beaten by fellow national athlete Susyiana of Jakarta.

Sylvia Kristianti of Central Java took the bronze.

In the men's qiangshu, Jakarta made a top-two finish with Dapit outscoring compatriot Gogi Nebulana. Andre Maulana of West Java settled for the bronze.

Dapit said he had expected rivalry from Gogi and Andre.

"But I was confident that I could bet the two," said Dapit, who scored 9.10 points, compared to Gogi's 9.03 and Andre 8.95 points.

He has set his sights on the second bid in the qiangshu on Sunday. "Let's see what happens tomorrow. I'm optimistic about my chances," he said.

Meanwhile, Jakarta's other gold medalist, Susyiana, said she expected to collect three golds.

"My target is to win three golds in changquan, jianshu and gunshu," said the 19-year-old student, who collected another three in the 2000 PON in Surabaya.

She registered 9.15 points against Nurdiana's 9.10 and Sylvia's 8.90 in changquan on Saturday.

In the men's changquan, Tio Handy Cahyono of East Java won gold. Gora Nebulana earned Jakarta the silver and Heryanto Budi from Central Java the bronze.

After the second day of the wushu competition, North Sumatra still led the medal tally with four golds, followed by Jakarta with two, Central Java and East Java with one each.

Another four are on offer on Sunday in men's and women's nanquan, men's and women's jianshu. The competition ends on Monday.