West Java tops nat'l tarung derajat

West Java tops nat'l tarung derajat

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

West Java emerged as the overall winner of the 10th Tarung
Derajat National Championship that concluded here on Sunday.

With seven gold medals and one silver, West Java avenged its
loss to Riau at the 2004 National Games (PON), when the sport, a
homegrown martial art, made its debut in the competition.

"We reached our target at this tournament, which was to take
the top position once again," Yayan Hartayan, head coach for West
Java, said at the end of the competition at the Senayan
Volleyball Indoor Hall in Central Jakarta.

Riau, which showed up with a team heavy on PON veterans, was
only able to manage one gold and two bronzes for a third place
finish.

West Kalimantan finished second overall with two gold and four
silver medals. Jambi was fourth with one gold, one silver and two
bronzes, followed by West Sumatra with one gold and one silver.

Yayan said West Java began preparing for the national
championship shortly after the 2004 PON ended.

"Sixty percent of our athletes in the championship were
newcomers, with PON veterans making up the rest of the team," he
said.

State Minister for Youth and Sports Affairs Adhyaksa Dault
presented gold medals to the winners before officially closing
the championship.

Tarung derajat, which resembles Thai kickboxing, is named
after the sport's originator, Ahmad Drajat, who introduced the
sport in 1968 in Bandung, West Java.

The sport was recognized by the National Sports Council in
1997 and made its debut at PON 2004 in Palembang, South Sumatra.

The Tarung Derajat Sport Family (Kodrat) governs the sport
with branches in 23 provinces across the country, as well as in
Malaysia.

Kodrat has explored the possibility of including tarung
derajat in the Southeast Asia Games, where another Indonesian
martial art, pencak silat, has been regularly featured.