Records galore fall in Games weight lifting

JAKARTA (JP): One national and eight Games weight lifting records were broken on the first day of the 14th National Games (PON) here yesterday.

The national record was broken by Winarni of Lampung. She clean and jerked 105.5 kilograms in the women's 50kg category to beat teammate Supeni's two-year-old record by half a kilogram.

Winarni twice smashed the PON record of 90kgs in the process. She heaved 92.5kgs in her first attempt and raised 100kgs in her second.

She broke another PON record in the snatch with 80kgs, improving the old record by 7.5kgs.

Other record breakers were Hari Setiawan of West Java in the men's 54kg and Sri Indriyani of Lampung in the women's 46kg.

Hari, who finished 12th in the Atlanta Olympics, clean and jerked 135kgs and made a total lift of 240kgs. By doing so, he rewrote both the PON clean and jerk record of 132.5kgs and the PON total lift record of 232.5kgs which were set by Wahyudi of East Kalimantan in 1993.

Indriyani, Indonesia's first junior world champion, shattered three PON records but failed to beat her own national record of 76kgs (snatch), 96.5kgs (clean and jerk) and 170kgs (total). She managed only 70kgs in the snatch and 90.5kgs in the clean and jerk for a total lift of 160kgs.

Winarni cried after winning the gold medal. The 20-year-old said she did not expect to break a national record. "I have trained very hard for this meet, harder than for any other meet," she said.

Lampung lived up to its reputation as the country's weight lifting powerhouse by taking two gold medals and breaking seven of the nine records that were broken yesterday. But the province's head coach, Imron Rosadi, refused to be praised for the remarkable performance of his squad. "Success should be measured after the end of the Games, not on the first day," he said.

Indonesia's tennis queen Yayuk Basuki teamed up with Maria Veronika yesterday to seal Yogyakarta's 2-1 win over Central Java for a rematch against East Java in the women's team final today.

East Java, led by Olympian Romana Tedjakusuma, reached the final with an upset 2-1 win over host Jakarta. It was a bleak finish for Jakarta which had sought every avenue to win the gold, including giving Central Java a win to avoid an early encounter with Yogyakarta, and by deploying dozens of paid supporters.

In the men's tennis, Jakarta, led by former number one Benny Wijaya, and West Java, led by Davis Cup veteran Suwandi, will lock horns in today's final. Jakarta made short work of North Sulawesi 3-0 while West Java strolled to the final by routing East Java 3-0.

Yayuk and Maria tore Central Java's pair of Wynne Prakusya and Lisa Andriani apart after a thrilling second-set tie breaker. The Yogyakartans won 6-2, 7-6 (6-3). Yayuk's coach and husband Suharyadi said he marveled at how well Yayuk could play despite being in an uneven pair with Maria.

Suharyadi predicted that the doubles match would be decisive in today's final. "The East Javanese doubles team is very strong. They (Romana and Nathalie) are experienced players with more or less the same skills," he said. Romana was Yayuk's Fed Cup doubles partner.

In the inaugural golf competition, North Sumatra, led by the country's best golfer Sukamdi, took the early lead with a total score of 212 in the men's team event.

The North Sumatra team was made up Sukamdi, Suparno, Indonesia's veteran player who is Sukamdi's elder brother, and Suyanto. The fourth player in the team, Esnan Sato whose performance was the worst of the four players, was not counted in the team's final score.

Played in cool conditions on the par-72 Kedaton Golf and Country Club in Tangerang, West Java, Sukamdi also lead the individual event after recording a 3-under par-69 (36 33). Bakri from East Kalimantan surprised the field when he finished the round with a 2-under 70 (36 34). West Java's Ahmad Indra tied for second place after scoring an identical 70 (36 34).

West Java, lead by the country's rising star Denny Supriadi, placed second in the team event with a total score of 214. Bali was third with 219.

The women's golf event will begin today with the Jakarta team as favorite. (arf/rsl)