Yudi, Tanti victorious in weightlifting arena
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's weightlifters powered their way to two more gold medals at the 21st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games on Thursday, courtesy of Yudi Suhartono and his female compatriot Tanti Pratiwi.
Yudi won in the 85kg class and Tanti in 58kg class, both beating Vietnamese challengers in the competition held at the Johor Bahru Sports Hall.
Yudi, 27, lifted 330kg in total to edge out Nguyen Quoc Thanh and Luu Yan Thang, who accumulated totals of 325kg and 305kg respectively.
In the snatch, Yudi lifted 142.5kg after two attempts. In the clean and jerk he lifted 185kg, before successfully adding another 2.5kg to that weight on his third and final attempt.
"Vietnam must have worked out its own strategy, but by then I was determined that this gold medal would not get away from my neck," Yudi, a father of two, told Antara.
Indonesian Sports Council (KONI) chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar was among scores of Indonesian supporters at the sports hall.
Tanti, 23, from Blora, Central Java, was the last contender in her competition attempting the 195kg mark, which she successfully made. Her closest rivals were Trouong Thi Yen and Doan Thi Hong Thom, both from Vietnam, who reached the same weight totals of 190kg. Trouong was awarded the silver because she weighed 1.1kg less than her compatriot.
Tanti's total comprised an 85kg snatch and 110kg clean and jerk.
The victories on Thursday took Indonesia's gold medal tally in the weightlifting to six, one more than the five expected. The other four gold medalists were Jadi Setiadi, Erwin Abdullah, Gustar and Misdan Yunip.
Indonesian Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Bodybuilding Association (PABBSI) chairman Dharma Surya said that the extra one gold was a 'bonus' for KONI.
He said that such a feat should prompt the council to pay more attention to weightlifting in the country by rewarding the association with a permanent training facility for athletes.
Team coaches Dwi Yanto and Ahmadin joined in the spirit of triumph, saying that coaches should also be proportionally appreciated. (01)