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.