West Java strikes double in tae kwon do

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post/Palembang

Utami Dewi and Bayu Firmansyah gave West Java two golds while Jakarta and Central Java took one apiece on the opening day of taekwondo competition at the National Games here on Friday.

Utami stunned favorite Rahadewinata of East Java with a convincing 9-4 win in the women's flyweight bout to chalk up her first win in three meetings between the two.

"Having lost twice to Rahadewinata I was determined I had to win in the third. I learned a lot from the previous matches. I studied further her style as well as my own mistakes through video.

"Entering the match, I felt confident today. I kept concentration and held on to win," Utami told reporters at the end of the match.

In the match, Utami proved the better side, taking charge of her opponent right from the start. She pulled ahead to 5-0, then 8-1, before finally wrapping the match up with a 9-4 victory.

Rahadewinata's coach Stefanus Sumartono looked disappointed, saying that Rahadewinata seemed too cautious.

"I told her not to hesitate to attack, but she just could not do it," Sumartono said.

Mayvina Ratna Sari of Riau and Yulia Teterissa of Maluku won bronze.

In the other West Java-East Java tussle, Bayu launched a last- minute attack to defeat Joko Arianto 4-3 in a tight men's middleweight bout.

Bayu was still trailing 3-2 until in the last minute when he sent a kick to Joko's head to overhaul the deficit.

"It was a tough bout. I had difficulty getting points from kicking his body. Thus my coach told me to attack Joko's head. The strategy worked and I won," he said.

It was Bayu's second gold in the back-to-back Games, following his victory in the welterweight class in 2000.

Yudhi Dimyati of Banten and Irwansyah of North Sumatra took the bronze.

In other bouts, Vinca Maharsi of Central Java won the women's middleweight after defeating Wynanda of Jakarta 4-0 in the final. Isti Wantini of Riau and Christina Oktols of Maluku won the bronze.

Jimmy Indra won the men's flyweight gold for Jakarta with a slight 4-3 win over West Java's Anugrah. The bronze went to Husni Afriansyah of South Sumatra and Saint B. Mansnandi of Papua.