RI pulling away from Malaysia on medal table
RI pulling away from Malaysia on medal table
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Hanoi
The kayaking team proved themselves reliable on Thursday in helping the Indonesian squad maintain third place in the medal standings with 45 golds to widen the gap with fourth place rival Malaysia, which has 37 golds currently at the 22nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
The kayakers held off a tight challenge from the Vietnamese and Myanmarese teams to bag four of eight gold medals on offer at cold, windy West Lake. The victory contributed greatly to Indonesia's collection of nine golds on the seventh day of the biennial event.
The other five victories came in weightlifting, cycling, tae kwon do and tennis, which delivered two.
Frontrunner Vietnam kept its healthy medal lead ahead of second place Thailand, thanks to the host team's gold rush in swimming with six to add to its overall total of 106 gold medals. Vietnam's victory in women's soccer, a 2-1 defeat of Myanmar in the final, was celebrated by the home fans who poured into the streets all night to salute their soccer champions.
Thailand romped home with six of 14 golds at stake from the track meet, boosting its gold medal tally to 77.
Indonesian kayaker Sarce Aronggear had back-to-back victories in the female singles' 500m kayak and in the doubles with Suhartati.
Sugianto Setiawan rode to victory in the men's category as Indonesia shared the two golds on offer in cycling with Vietnam taking the gold in the women's category of the 1.5km Mountain Bike competition.
After earning two golds each in two consecutive days, Indonesia ended the third day of the weightlifting competition with Yudi Suhartono on the top of the podium, while Thailand bagged two victories.
In Ho Chi Minh City, about 1,300 kilometers south of Hanoi, Sinta Berliana Herru proved she was still the best in the tae kwon do women's welterweight division, while the tennis team, without rising star Angelique Widjaja, showed they were still a potent package.
Wynne Prakusya lead her teammates to surprise their team manager by winning two gold medals.
Teaming up with Maya Rosa, Wynne took her women's doubles victory medal by beating Napaporn Tongsalee and Suchanun Viratprasert of Thailand 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, before winning her second gold pairing with Suwandi in the all-Indonesian mixed doubles finals over Hendri Pramono and Maya.
With the men's tennis team already getting one gold, the team now has three, a feat team manager Kresno Merdiko had earlier said it was beyond his expectations.
"With Angelique on the team we were optimistic that we could win three gold medals. But when she decided to pull out, we were just hoping to make it to the finals," Merdiko told The Jakarta Post.
Meanwhile at the badminton venue, shuttler Sony Dwi Kuncoro will face Wong Choon Hann of Malaysia in Friday's final after crushing Roslin Hashim 15-8, 15-1, also of Malaysia. Wong used a lot of energy in eliminating Indonesian-born Ronald Susilo of Singapore 15-3, 7-15, 15-9, which may hamper his prospects against Sony.
In the men's doubles Alven Yulianto/Luluk Hadiyanto will face Malaysians Chew Choon Eng/Chang Kim Wai in the final while the mixed doubles team of Anggun Nugroho/Enny Widyowati will battle against Chew Choon Eng/Chin Bei Hui of Malaysia.
The penultimate day of the SEA Games will have some 50 gold medals up for grabs among about 20 sports.