RI squad bags 10 golds to keep third place

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Hanoi

Indonesia maintained its third-place overall standing with 36 gold medals behind host Vietnam with 86 golds and Thailand with 61 golds on the sixth day of the 22nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

The newly claimed 10 golds were received by national athletes on the day President Megawati Soekarnoputri's husband, Taufik Kiemas, arrived with a 40-strong entourage.

Taufik had promised earlier to give cash bonuses of between US$250 and $1,000 to SEA Games medalists. As in previous years, the National Sports Council (KONI) will also give cash bonuses of Rp 30 million (US$3,529) to gold medalists.

On the closing day for aquatics events, Indonesian athletes pocketed two golds thanks to Shenny Ratna Amelia and Herliani Sukmahati, who dove for the gold and scored 273.18 points in the women's 10-meter synchronized platform.

Donny B. Utomo edged out a more experienced Ratapong Sirisanont of Thailand and compatriot Albert Sutanto to win the men's 200m butterfly for the sole gold from the swimming event.

The event was a gold mine for Thailand, which carted home 15 of 41 golds at stake, followed by Malaysia and Singapore with nine golds each.

Indonesia took two golds each in weight lifting and track-and- fields, and one each in beach volleyball and team tennis.

Mighty Indonesians Erwin Abdullah and Misdan Yunip lifted to victory at Soc Son Competition Hall with their unmatched strength.

Erwin won the men's 77-kilogram weight class with a total lift of 322.5kg, while Misdan brushed aside Thailand's Suriya Dattuyawat and Myanmar's Aung Aung Htoo to win the 69kg class with a total lift of 310kg.

Supriati Sutono and Yurita Ariani emerged as winners in track- and-field by finishing first in the women's 5,000m and hammer throw, respectively.

Supriati, who just had a baby last year, retained her title with 16:9.39, only 0.46 seconds under the SEA Games record she clocked in 2001.

Hurler Yurita, who took the silver two years ago, threw 49.79m for the gold.

Benny Elo Pere joined the Indonesia's gold-winning athletes following his triumph in the 75kg weight class in the boxing ring, while Derry Darmansyah collected a gold on the tae kwon do mat in the bantam weight division.