RI fencing team gets off to poor start

RI fencing team gets off to poor start

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A rare, bizarre incident left Rina Sukmawati with a bronze as the
Indonesian fencing team flopped on the opening day of competition
at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games here on Wednesday.

The team won only four bronzes as Thailand swept three of four
golds, with the Philippines taking the remaining one.

The team had Rina and Isnawati Idar in the women's epee
competition; both have to be content with bronzes. Muhammad
Haerullah and Dadan Heri were also unable to up their challenge
in the men's epee and foil respectively.

Thailand's gold medalists were Sirriroj Rattaprasert, Nontapat
Panchan and Siritida Choochokkul.

The Philippines took a gold, courtesy of Reyes Lenita Garcia
in the women's foil category, in which Indonesia's Fabiolla
Paulany Ratu and Verdiana Rihandini were unable to advance from
the group matches.

Team manager Moeljono Abdoerrachman sent a tribute to the
opponents, saying they were strong and had deserved to win.

"They are simply better than us. Let's rest our hopes on the
next events," he said.

Rina was denied a place in the final after losing to Nguyen
Thi Nhu Hoa of Vietnam in the semifinals, during which the 31-
year-old Indonesian appeared to use a default blade almost
throughout the game.

Rina Sukmawati was leading her opponent 13-5 when her point
d'arret was displaced from its cap on the tip of the blade,
causing her thrust to fail to trigger the light, which registers
points.

She became aware of the mishap only later when she was level
at 13-13. She changed the equipment but it was too late for her
to recharge as the opponent, with support from the roaring local
fans, fired up to score the final two points for victory.

Rina and Isnawati looked disappointed by the defeats. Rina was
left to rue her result, which cost her the chance to challenge
for the gold medal.

"I won't look for any excuse in the defeat. I'm to blame as I
didn't notice the displacement of the point d'arret earlier," she
said.

Taking two wins and a loss from the group match, Isnawati was
up against an opponent with the meanest defensive armory, making
it very difficult for the Indonesian to find headway for points.

Isnawati was beaten 15-8 in the semifinals by eventual winner
Siritida Choochokkul.

"She quickly retreated to defense, with a good block," she
said.

Muhammad Haerullah managed to beat Siriroj Rattaprasert in the
group matches but in the semifinals he found his Thai opponent
was tougher, apparently with a better tactical coup.

Haerullah looked to be trailing in the points score, although
he was still able to limit the deficit to one point by the end of
the second, three-minute round.

Eventually, he appeared to be the victim of his own offensive
lunge as the Thai was beginning to widen the gap with his
counterattack and rounded off the match with a 15-8 win.

"I had to score more points to catch up with him," he said.
"We have skills generally on par. Eventually, experience
determined the match. He had more experience than I am. He had a
string of overseas tournaments before the SEA Games."

Ten gold medals are on offer in the fencing competition.