RI off to dismal start in LG Cup

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

With poor health forcing Indonesian Olympian Satrio Rahadani to withdraw from the 7th LG ASEAN Tae kwon do championship here on Saturday, Indonesia got off to a miserable start.

Satrio, who said he had only been informed of his inclusion in the last few days, was to have faced Long Dien of Vietnam.

"I have had a bad fever for several days and, physically, I am so weak," said the 23-year-old.

"I don't want to force myself to fight, because I know that due to my state of health, I would not do my best," he added.

Satrio is currently one of several Indonesian tae kwon do fighters training under the Indonesia Awakens (IA) program, along with female Olympian Juana Wangsa Putri.

Juan has also backed out of the competition due to injury.

Satrio's withdrawal has augured badly for the Indonesian team, which was left empty-handed at the end of day one of the two-day competition.

Vietnam put in a mighty performance, sweeping all eight gold medals on offer.

The home team had the chance to win three golds, but all three finalists failed in their last tasks, all against Vietnamese opponents.

Taufik, who played in the men's featherweight division, and women's featherweight fighter Fransisca lost 3-0 to Vu Anh Tuan and N.Thi Bich Ng respectively.

Both Taufik and Fransisca seemed to hesitate in their attack during the matches.

In the women's welterweight division, Emerald Margareth was thumped by Thi Ngoc Tri.

Indonesian coach Agus Sumarno blamed lack of preparation for his athletes' rueful performance, saying that the athletes had arrived at the competition only after a brief chance to hone their skills in their respective provincial compounds.

"So, if the result is disappointing, provincial chapters of the PBTI should be questioned about the training programs of their fighters," he said.

Indonesia received a consolation in the form of two gold medals in the junior competition, courtesy of Julius Fernando and Reza Irwansyah.

The junior competition seemed to provide matches of equal strength, with Vietnam and the Philippines grabbing two and three medals respectively.

Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X officially opened the tournament at the Yogya Expo Trade. The opening ceremony, which featured a tae kwon do demonstration by South Korea's Kukkiwon Team, was also attended by Asian Tae kwon do Federation president Kris Taenar Wiluan.

Julius won his junior male light middleweight gold after defeating fellow Indonesian 2-1, while Reza thrashed Syahiran Ahman of Malaysia 3-1 in the male finweight.

"I'm glad that I could win gold as it was my first time here, participating in the event," said Julius.