S. Kalimantan inches closer to diving title

JAKARTA (JP): Husaini Noor and Dwi Mariastuti joined forces to assure South Kalimantan of the overall title in the national diving championships yesterday.

With just four events remaining in the final day today, South Kalimantan took an assailable lead in the medal race with nine golds, eight silvers and three bronzes. Closest rival, Central Java, lies a distant second with three golds and two silvers.

Husaini and Mariastuti, both regular backbones of Indonesia's Southeast Asian Games, lived up to their status as the country's best divers when they shared the glory in the platform events.

Husaini, 17, scored his career best score of 596.70 to win the men's open platform gold medal. The victory gives the 17-year-old student his fifth gold of the competition, the most outstanding medal collection of the four-day championships.

"It's a deserving outcome of a long training program. The success gives me great confidence to perform better during the SEA Games in December," Husaini said. He added that he is eying two gold medals in platform and springboard in the upcoming SEA Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The women's open platform gold medal went to old-crack Mariastuti, who has donned the national colors in international events for a record 14 years. She scored 397.05, to best her stiffest rival and junior teammate Nani Suryani Wulansari of Central Java by 22.80 points.

Nani made up for her loss with a gold in the platform Age Group A with 352.65 points. "I feel great, but I think I need more lessons to beat my seasoned teammate," Nani, who won a bronze in the 1993 SEA Games, said.

East Java won its first gold medal of the championships through Yulius Eko who triumphed in the men's springboard. M. Hasrullah of South Kalimantan took the silver, with Dedi Ibrahim awarded the bronze. (amd)