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.