Team effort for Samai's ride to gold

Team effort for Samai's ride to gold

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Manila

Samai got the gold for winning the criterium race at Rizal
Memorial Park on Sunday, but he gave credit where it was due.

The 27-year-old Surabayan finished with 22 points, thanks to a
strong supporting role from teammates Tonton Susanto and Ryan
Ariehan who managed to keep his rivals at bay.

Manan Anur of Malaysia was second with 18 points and
Thailand's Youthaporn Hinthao third with 15 points.

"It's all due to the clever support of Tonton and Ariehan.
They were checking the other riders from the start up to the
finish. They worked hard for me. It was truly remarkable
cooperation from both," said Samai, a silver medalist in the road
race earlier in the week.

Sunday' team's pre-race strategy -- for 32-year-old Tonton
and Ryan to work together to help Samai gain the gold -- went off
without a hitch.

The criterium consisted of 40 circuits of the 1.6 kilometer
park, adjacent to Quirino Grandstand, the site for the opening
and closing ceremonies. On every four laps, the competitors were
required to sprint, and earned points during the course of the
ride.

With the able backing of his teammates, it was mostly smooth
going for Samai, who took the lead on the first lap from the
other competitors representing seven of the 11 countries in the
Games.

Manan came close to overtaking Samai during the sixth and
seventh laps but the Indonesian cyclist managed to cling on a
two-point buffer, with Tonton and Ryan doing their part to
distract the Malaysian.

On the last lap, Manan again threatened to move in on Samai,
but he averted the danger and rode home for victory

"What a close race. Again, thanks to Tonton and Ryan. Their
help made it impossible for the Malaysian rider to take control,"
he said.

It was a repeat of the golden performance from Samai in the
2001 SEA Games in Malaysia -- where he brought home a gold from
in sprint and silver in track -- but he had never taken the top
honors in criterium.

"He was impressive during the Tour d'East Java and Tour de
West Java, so we enlisted him for the criterium competition,"
team manager Darmawan Prijo Susilo said.

After winning the criterium at both meets, Samai headed to
Australia for training before taking part in the China Tour. He
entered the national training camp two month before the SEA Games
began last Sunday.

Chairman of the National Sports Council Agum Gumelar, who has
had little to cheer about at this Games, with Indonesia likely to
finish out of the top three for the first time in its history
when they end on Monday, hugged and kissed the rider after the
race, Antara news service reported.

The poor overall performance of Indonesia at the Games was
also on the mind of the new gold medalist.

"I'm proud to have won gold for Indonesia. But I am concerned
about Indonesia's position now. It's out of the three," said
Samai.