Richard and Supriati break SEAG records
By Novan Iman Santosa
KUALA LUMPUR (JP): Richard Sam Bera and Supriati Sutono bid farewell to the Southeast Asian Games with their heads held high after winning their gold medals in record breaking time on Wednesday.
The achievement served as a consolation to the Indonesian contingent, which has seen Thailand surpass it in the medal tally.
After five days of competition, Malaysia collected 56 golds. Sixteen of them were secured on Wednesday mostly in gymnastics. Thailand has now overtaken Indonesia with 41 golds.
Indonesia, which has lost its championship only three times since its SEA Games debut in 1977, was relegated to third place with 37 golds.
Security concerns cast a shadow on the fifth day of competition on Wednesday following the terrorist attacks on the United States. Police increased security measures at all venues and the main press center (MPC) of the games.
A spokesman for the MPC said that security personnel at the venues had been instructed to conduct random checks on people and bags.
Richard won the men's 50m freestyle at the National Aquatic Complex, Bukit Jalil. While a win was no surprise for the man who has dominated the field since 1993, his achievement in shattering the old record was the icing on the cake.
Richard chalked up the best time of 23.03 seconds, shaving 24 hundredth of a second off the 12-year-old mark of 23.27 seconds set by Singaporean Ang Peng Siong.
Supriati won the women's 10,000-meters in a meet record 33 minutes, 50.06 seconds. The old record was at 34:02.26.
"This is my last SEA Games because I want to have a baby. I am already 30 years old and haven't had any yet," Supriati told reporters.
Apart from their commendable feat, the Indonesian contingent have suffered a setback against Thailand, let alone Malaysia with the games into the first half.
With Malaysia and Thailand likely to fight further in stiff rivalry for the championship, Indonesia looked mediocre with only 11 golds on Wednesday.
Indonesia won three in rowing, two in weightlifting, and one each in athletics, cycling, gymnastics, swimming, billiards and tennis, where it beat Thailand 2-1 for the men's team title.
Jonathan Sianturi won his third gold medal in gymnastics after winning the pommel horse event at the Putra Stadium, at which the host Malaysia performed formidably.
The Indonesian weightlifting team may have been disappointed with Lisa's failure in what had formerly looked like a certain win, but Erwin Abdullah and Misdan Yunip came out as the saviors with a gold each.
Lisa and the eventual champion Swe Swe Win booked the same lift, only for the Indonesian to be ruled out because she weighed heavier than the Myanmarese.
Suwandi and teammates made a double win for the tennis team with a 2-1 victory over Thailand in the men's final. The day before, their female compatriots beat Malaysia for the gold.
Jamaluddin and Muhammad Anwar teamed up for the gold in the men's coxless event, while Rita and Susilawati accomplished the same in the women's competition.
Indonesian rowers took the third gold on the day from the men's coxless four after beating the Philippines and Myanmar in the final.
Tonton Susanto continued Indonesian domination on the cycling track with a victory in the men's 45km road race Individual Time Trial (ITT). The Indonesian scored 56 minutes 18.937 seconds to leave Mai Cong Hi Eu of Vietnam and Victor Espiritu of the Philippines behind.