Yudi, Tanti victorious in weightlifting arena
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)