Uyun hits silver in ITT

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Hanoi

Uyun Muzizah struggled against hard-blowing wind on the Bac Ninh highway to take silver in the Individual Time Trial (ITT) race, as Vietnam and Thailand shared the two gold medals on offer on Sunday.

Uyun clocked 46 minutes and 27:311 seconds for the 30- kilometer route in the women's race, in which the riders started at one minute intervals.

Uyun started eighth out of the nine competitors. Her final time was less than 30 seconds behind the eventual winner, Chanpeng Nontasin of Thailand. Another Thai rider Monrudee Chapookam took the bronze with a time of 47:26.973.

The men's gold medal went to Mai Cong Hieu of Vietnam, who clocked 52:02.192 for the 40-kilometer race. Victor Espiretu of the Philippines and Prajak Mahawong of Thailand took the silver and bronze medals respectively. Both hit the finish line within a slight margin of the winner.

While head coach Wahyudi Hidayat said the windy conditions were unusual, the Indonesian team looked at their failure philosophically "because others also experienced the same hazards".

Uyun, who chalked her second silver after Saturday's Criterium, said: "It (the wind) was blowing hard, like in a storm. My rear tire was thrashed so hard that it felt like it was swinging."

"It was a lightly-pedaled ride in the first 15 km. I could make it to 51 km (per hour). But riding back for the last 15 km, I found that I was stretched even to reach 35 (km/h)," she said.

Indonesia's other rider Dahlina Rosydia finished eighth.

Home fans jubilantly awaited winner of the men's event, Hieu. It was the hosts' first medal in cycling after Indonesia grabbed two golds on Saturday, and their idol was suitably greeted.

Defending champion Shahrulneeza Razali of Malaysia only finished third while Indonesians Rochmat Nugraha and Amin Suryana, who suffered a tire puncture one kilometer before the finish line, were fifth and 10th of 11.