Unstoppable Umar saves the day again
Unstoppable Umar saves the day again
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Mandaue City, Cebu
It came down to the last bout, and once again Umar Syarief
could be relied upon to save the day for the national karate
team.
The 27-year-old Surabayan defended his crown in the open
weight division on Tuesday to bring the country its fifth gold,
reaching its Games target and becoming the overall champion in
the sport.
Umar, a SEA Games stalwart since he won his first gold in 1997
in Jakarta, also contributed a gold in the individual kumite 75
kg class on Monday, and was part of the men's kumite team victory
on Sunday.
Other golds for Indonesia were contributed by Christo Mondolu
in the men's under 75 kg on Monday, and the women's kumite team.
The team won four golds in Vietnam in 2003 to finish second
overall.
With an additional five silver and four bronze, the national
squad traded places with 2003 champion Vietnam; its team placed
second with five gold, three silver and nine bronze, followed by
Malaysia with four gold, seven silver and four bronze.
The host team was fourth with three gold and nine bronze while
Thailand was fifth with one gold, one silver and four bronzes.
"My job is complete now," a smiling Umar said after overcoming
Vietnamese Nguyen Ngoc Thanh 1-0 in extra time.
Everything was riding on him to win after five teammates lost
in earlier bouts. Both men were engaged in a game of wait-and-see
at the beginning, and hesitant to go on the offensive.
With 15 seconds left in regular time, Umar surprised his
opponent with a punch to the stomach to take a 1-0 lead. However,
Nguyen immediately struck back with a blow to the face to level.
In extra time, Umar came through with another punch to the
stomach for the crucial victory.
The team celebrated by gathering in the center of the arena to
do the North Sulawesi poco-poco jig to the strains of the Games
theme song Pinoy Ako (I am a Filipino), with spectators standing
to cheer them on.
National team manager Madju Dharyanto seemed to have forgotten
his earlier disappointment about a referee's decision against
Donny Dharmawan in the men's 60 kg class.
"I am proud of this team. We proved ourselves instead of
making empty promises," he said.
Chef de mission Djoko Pramono said he counted on the karatekas
to reach the target.
"We pushed karate to train very hard because we knew the sport
had great potential to deliver many golds for us. It worked."