West Java leads with two golds at LG Cup

West Java leads with two golds at LG Cup

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Defending champion West Java was off to a winning start with two
golds on the opening day of the 3rd LG Cup tae kwon do
championship at the Bung Karno Tennis Indoor Hall here on
Thursday.

West Java started the defense of the title it won last year
with a win in the women's middleweight division, in which Emerald
Margaret beat Megasari 2-0 in the final.

The contingent added another in the men's middleweight after
Rosandi, who, like Emerald, is a member of the national squad for
the 2002 Asian Games, forced Zakaria Tubolaony to retire in the
first round of their final match late on the day.

East Java and Jakarta took the remaining two golds on offer.
East Java won its first gold medal through Rahadewi Neta, who
defeated Utami Dewi 7-4 in the final of the women's flyweight,
while home hopeful Jimmy Indra Winata ended up triumphant West
Java's Nopan Adiputra 8-2 in the final.

West Java has come to its defense campaign with three national
squad members. Besides Emerald and Rosandi, it has also brought
Onyas Nurmala, who competes in the lightweight, in its 16-strong
team

"These three athletes have long been prepared for the LG Cup.
As the event also provides the finalists with an entry to the
nominee list for the 2003 SEA Games, we won't risk losing the
opportunity by fielding new faces," Pino Indra told The Jakarta
Post.

Meanwhile, the Jakarta contingent has decided not to field
Juana Wangsa Putri in order to give the juniors an opportunity to
test their skills.

"We are supposed to be on standby to turn to another player
when Juana retires," coach Eny Pangestu Ningsih told The Jakarta
Post.

Juana was one of the three gold medalists for Jakarta in last
year's LG Cup. The other two were Ertina Novianti and Diah Santi
Aji. With Diah withdrawing from the team, only Ertina, from
previous winners, returned to the competition.