Timy set to fight for gold in SEA Games
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Ni Putu Timy Yudhani and Devota Rahawarin barely put a foot wrong in the LA Menthol Indonesia Open beach volleyball championships.
In a field of teams from seven countries, including arch rival Thailand, they triumphed in all four stops -- Semarang, Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Jakarta -- without losing a match.
Their happy ending came on Sunday, when they defeated Kasinee Godtalang and Arawan Tongkamnak of Thailand in the final.
They also beat the Thai pair in the first final in Semarang, but, with her sights set on winning gold in the 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in November, Timy remains wary of the stronger Thai teams who did not compete in the series.
"I wish they had sent their top pairs. It would not matter if I were to lose because the important thing would be gauging their strengths and assessing our own," Timy told The Jakarta Post after their 21-10, 21-17 victory.
Seven years older than her partner at age 29, Timy is the driving force in her team, especially in coaxing Devota through pressure situations.
It all comes from the experience of playing with several different partners, including her own sister.
"She is still plagued by nerves, especially in the early stages of the games. And I always tell her to relax and enjoy the game," the mother of a seven-year-old daughter said of Devota.
Timy played for West Nusa Tenggara's indoor volleyball team during the 1993 National Games in Jakarta but became interested in the then relatively new beach game.
"It looked to me that a beach volleyball player would get more chances to travel abroad."
She teamed up with her sister Tri Siwi Susilowati; they finished third in their first national tournament, earning them a place in the national training camp.
She was later paired with Engel Bertha Kaize for the Asian Championship in India and then a tournament in Chinese Taipei.
They won the gold medal at the 1997 SEA Games in Jakarta and the Asian Championship the same year.
Pregnancy kept her out of the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.
Timy and Bertha returned to the national lineup in 2000 before the latter was sidelined by a knee injury (she now plays with Ninik Nuraida, losing to Timy and Devota in Saturday's semifinal).
Timy played with Siti Nurjanah in the 2002 Asian Games in Busan where they ended up in fifth place. The pair had to be content with silver in the 2003 SEA Games in Vietnam, losing to Thailand's Jarunee Sannok and Kamoltip Kulna.
Timy said the 2003 loss underlined the decline in fortune of national women players in the region, unlike the dominant men's pairs.
"At the Southeast Asia level, Indonesia's women have little chance against our Thai rivals," Timy said. "We are lagging behind in producing young talent in the women's division."
She recognized that it will be tough to repeat her 1997 triumph in Bacolod City, where beach volleyball will be staged.
"But I never lose hope. I'll try hard to win a medal."