Oka gives RI second gold at Asiad
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.