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.