Oka gives RI second gold at Asiad
BANGKOK (JP): Indonesia entered the second half of the 13th Asian Games with some pride after collecting its second gold medal through windsurfer Oka Sulaksana.
Competing in the men's IMCO heavy division, Oka grabbed the coveted laurel after a panel of judges sustained Indonesia's protests over an alleged violation committed by Kenjo Motokazu of Japan in the penultimate and ninth stage.
Secretary-general of the Indonesian Yachting and Diving Association, Aji Sularso, told The Jakarta Post that Motokazu, was found guilty of smashing into Oka's surfboard at the start of the penultimate race. Oka fell off his board and, despite his spirited comeback, he managed to finish fourth in the stage won by Motokazu.
Motokazu had finished first with the lowest accumulative penalty of 14 against Oka's 17 before the jury stripped the Japanese of his points in the ninth race. Motokazu just missed disqualification and still walked away with the silver on 18.
Aji said the jury granted Indonesia's appeal after athletes from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and China testified in favor of Oka.
An International Sailing Federation rule says that one minute before the start of a race, competitors are not allowed to touch each other.
Oka beat Motokazu in their previous three encounters, with the last in the Singapore Open which was won by Oka in June.
"Maybe he wanted to avenge his triple defeats. But why should he make it in an unsportsmanlike manner," said 27-year-old Oka, who won his maiden Asian Games gold medal.
Japanese sprinter Koji Ito, meanwhile, stole the show as track drama took over the Games.
Ito came within a step becoming Asia's first sub-10 second sprinter as he ran 10.00 seconds dead in his 100-meter semifinal. He earlier made it under the magic time in a heat, only to see it canceled because of the windspeed.
The 28-year-old Japanese may regret having raised his arms in triumph, costing precious thousands of a second, as he celebrated his triumph just before the finish line.
But he at least smashed the Asian record of 10.08 he shared with teammate Nobuharu Asahara.
Female track star, Susanthika Jayasinghe, who is at the center of a drug controversy, sparked the second storm of the athletics opening day.
Jayasinghe has been warned by the world governing body that she may lose any medals she wins in Bangkok if found guilty in an investigation over a drug failure earlier this year.
But the 23-year-old Sri Lankan who won a silver medal in the 200m at the world championships may pull out of the 100m final after pulling a muscle while qualifying.
In weightlifting, China's iron women completed seven days of daily world records in the sport as Ding Meiyuan set marks for the snatch and total in the over 75 kg class.
Her 120kg in the snatch broke the world record of 118.5 set by China's Zhang Nan in May, and her total of 270 beat the mark of 267.5 set by China's Tang Gonghong in April. Aye Aye Aung of Myanmar won the silver with a total of 252.5. Teammate Cui Wenhua won in the men's 105kg class.
China's nine for the day gave it 79 in all, South Korea had 36 and Japan had 31, after winning five Sunday - three in track and field and two in men's golf.
Tied at 14 were Chinese Taipei, which added two in women's golf and one in eight-ball pool Sunday, and Kazakhstan, which added two in Greco-Roman wrestling.
Thailand had 13 after winning three of the yachting divisions.
In shooting, North and South Korea split the golds in men's center-fire pistol competition.
Competition began in the South Asian sport of kabaddi, a sort of team tag, with defending champion India beating Pakistan 17-9 in a preliminary round game.