Old soldiers fend off young guns at Games

From: The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (JP): Old soldiers held off coup attempts from young prodigies in the 14th National Games yesterday, but age barriers denied the veterans a remarkable showing.

Aside from two new lowly meet records in the women's long jump and the women's 400m hurdles, lackluster performances by veterans prevailed in Madya Senayan stadium, the host of track and field.

The swimming pool also saw old names rule the roost, winning all but one battle against the new emerging forces.

Combatants in power lifting -- an off-shoot of its more prestigious relative, weight lifting -- fared much better performance-wise as they outshone five Asian records.

East Nusa Tenggara's Eduardus Nabunome retained his 5,000m title in a sub-par time of 14:43.51, far away from his personal best of 14:20.24 he set in the 1993 Games. But it was enough to beat his junior, Ferry Junaedi of Central Java, who clocked 14:52.97. Oseas Kamlase of East Kalimantan finished third with 14:53.97.

Nabunome, whom the Indonesian Track and Field Association's head coach Peter Noya once referred to as a "hopeless" prodigal son, said that after the Games, he will focus on the marathon for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games here next year.

"The association has told me so," he said.

"I am 31 now, too old to run in both the 5,000m and the 10,000m, which require more power than in the marathon, which puts emphasis on endurance," he added.

Nabunome, winner of the 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon in 1993, will be facing stiff opposition from SEA Games champion Suyono of Central Java in the marathon today.

East Java's Imelda Yudith Soselisa won a battle of veterans in the women's long jump. Imelda leapt 6.02 meters, smashing Rabaiya's old meet record by two centimeters, but remained 20 centimeters shy of Rabaiya's national best. Rabaiya of South Sulawesi managed only to jump 5.99m for the silver.

Soselisa, already holding the high jump title in her hand, is eyeing another gold in the triple jump on Monday. "I'm more specialized in the triple jump," said the 24-year-old East Javanese.

Earlier yesterday morning, national record holder Hasiati Lawole strode to her third successive women's 10km walk gold medal in the Games, but missed her record-breaking chance.

The North Sulawesi-born Jakarta athlete clocked an unsound time of 53:22.70, far slower than her personal best of 52:06.71 she set in the 1989 Games.

"She has only trained three months before the Games. It's insufficient for her to set a new record," Jakarta coach Salim Abdullah said.

On the pool, Denny Kurniawan of Central Java was the only one to turn the table on favorites when he won the 200m butterfly. Denny touched the finish block in a meet record-breaking time of 2:22.44, ahead of teammate Audi Octavian.

Pre-race favorite and defending champion Wirmandi Sugriat of Jakarta, whose record of 2:22.61 was at stake yesterday, stepped back with a disappointing time of 2:23.39 for the bronze.

Elsa Manora Nasution retained her crown in the 100m butterfly in 1:03.06, beating her own meet record of 1:03.26 she set three years ago and her arch rival Catherine Surya of West Java. Catherine had to settle for the silver after clocking 1:03.96.

Elsa has now collected three golds for Jambi, which ranked fifth in the medal tally with a collection of 10 golds, five silvers and five bronzes.

Defending overall titleholder Jakarta stood head and shoulders against its contenders, scooping 56 golds, 32 silvers and 32 bronzes on top of the standings. As of the fifth day of competition yesterday, West Nusa Tenggara is the only province to win no medals. (arf/d)d)

JP/Old soldiers fend off young guns at Games