Rina grabs 3rd gold in Palembang

Rina grabs 3rd gold in Palembang

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post/Palembang

Rina Dewi Puspita of East Java won her third gold medal in the
archery competition at the 16th National Games here on
Sunday.

Rina, whose Olympic bid collapsed in early stage in Athens,
defeated Yasmidar Hamid of West Java in the final of the women's
individual FITA Olympic round by 99 points to 97.

Competing in Sunday's event having helped her team win two
golds on Saturday, Rina appeared set to take another with her
consistent run almost from the start.

In the final, she looked nervous before composing herself to
seal victory.

She admitted her nerves, but said that her strong will to win
had helped her to get over them.

"Well, I felt a bit nervous, but I didn't want to lose the
final match. I convinced myself I would be up to the task," she
said.

On Saturday, Rina won the individual FITA 70-meter round
before helping the team come second in the 70-meter team event as
East Java swept three of the four gold medals on offer on the
day.

Having already collected three, Rina still looks hungry for
another. She said that she wanted to team up with fellow East
Javanese athletes in the FITA Olympic round team event on Monday.

"I still want more gold medals. I hope I can get them," said
Rina, whose Palembang performance is her first appearance in the
quadrennial national sporting spectacle.

Sunday's victory earned East Java an overall four golds from
the archery field.

The team could have collected its fifth but Kuswantoro failed
to match Permadi Sandra of Central Java in the men's final,
losing 111-108.

Rina represented Indonesia in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games,
but she lost in the first round to Jennifer Nichols of the United
States 160-141 in six sessions.

While Rina was celebrating, Yasmidar could not hide her
disappointment. She rued the loss, particularly because she had
been performing impressively earlier on, and had shot many
perfect 10s.

But the jitters set in during the final and Yasmidar, who
pipped defending champion Lilies Handayani of East Java in the
semifinals with a score of 100-99, finally cracked and allowed
Rina to take the prize.

Lilies took the bronze after beating Hamdiah of East
Kalimantan 95-92 in the playoff.

Meanwhile, focused preparation before the competition produced
a gold for Permadi Sandra.

"I just tried to play consistently. I prepared privately in
Cilacap and tried to play consistently in the wind. This proved
successful as I was able to handle the unpredictable wind in
Palembang," he said.

"I'm glad I've finally won a gold in PON as I never took a
gold in the last two PON that I participated in," said Permadi,
sporting a Javanese traditional hat called a blankon and
sunglasses.

In the play-off for the bronze, Hendro Suprianto of West Java
defeated Budi Sartono of West Java 103-92.