With the victory, the Indonesian team came up as the overall champion in the Karate branch, collecting 10 golds, 2 silvers and 4 bronzes.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia on Monday became the overall champion of the 26th Southeast Asian Games` karate competition after winning 10 of the 17 gold medals for grabs leaving the 7 other gold medals shared by Malaysia and Vietnam.

The 10th gold medal on Monday was bagged by the Indonesian Karateka team in the the women`s group kumite class after it defeated the Malaysian team 2-1. The silver and bronze medals in this class respectively went to the Philippines and Myanmar.

With the victory, the Indonesian team came up as the overall champion in the Karate branch, collecting 10 golds, 2 silvers and 4 bronzes.

Of the 17 events contested in the karate branch, four golds went to Malaysia which also grabbed 2 silvers and 8 bronzes. Vietnam shared 3 golds, 8 silvers and 2 bronzes.

The success of the Indonesian women`s team began in the first segment when Fitrianingsih Nur Hidyanti recorded a 2-0 victory over Jamalliah Jamaludin. However, in the second segment, Yolanda Asmuruf was forced to surrender 1-2 to Yamini Golapasamy. The victory was in the hands of Indonesia`s Martinel Prihastuti who in the third segment won 4.2 over Malaysia's rival Shakkila Sami Jefry Krisnan.

Spectators welcomed the fielding of Martinel in the third segment, giving her support and roaring yells. The victory of Indonesia`s karateka team on Monday where two golds were won brought , the number of the country`s gold medals to 10.

Indonesia`s 22-strong karate team was able to present five golds , one silver and one bronze to the country on the first day of the 26th Southeast Asian Games on Saturday.

The five golds were respectively grabbed by Flenty Enoch (women`s individual kata class), Faizal Zainuddin (men`s individual), Umar Syarif (men`s +84 kg class) and men`s and women`s groups.

During the last event on the first day, Indonesia`s women athlete Telly Melinda had to be content with a bronze medal. The gold medal for this class was won by Vietnamese athlete Nguyet Anh Vu Thi who defeated Thai Paweena Laksachat in the final match.

On the second day on Sunday, the Indonesian karate team added three more golds to Indonesian contingent`s medal tally. Only one out of four golds offered at the kata event went to Malaysia.

By Sunday, the Indonesian karate squad contributed eight golds after they made a clean sweep of five golds the day before. Indonesia Sunday?s first gold from the kata event came from Donny Dharmawan in the 50-kg men`s kumite class. He defeated Hoang Hiep of Vietnam 3-1.

Earlier, Donny consecutively outclassed Macaalay Jayson Ramil of the Philippines and Prakas Muhammad Arjuna of Malaysia.

The second gold on Sunday came from Jintar Simanjuntak who won the 67-kg men`s kumite class by beating Bin Hj Sanif of Brunei 8-0 in the final.

The third gold was contributed by Yulanda Asmuruf who won the 68-kg women`s kumite class by surprisingly outclassing Vietnam`s Thi Trieu Bui 8-4 in the final.

In the 75-kg men`s kumite class, Indonesia`s Christo Mondolu only reached the semifinal by overcoming Naing Aye Chan of Myanmar. Mondolu won a bronze in the kata event.

The gold medal in the 75-kg men`s kumite class went to Malaysia`s Shaharudin Jamaludin who beat Nguyen Phung Minh (Vietnam) 5-2 in the final.

Indonesian karatekas collected five golds on Saturday, three on Sunday and two on Monday, bringing the total number of gold medals it won for the Karate branch to 10.

Commenting on the Indonesian team?s achievement, former national karateka Tommy Firman said that now was the rising moment for Indonesia karatekas after they inked the best performance during the current 26th SEA Games events.

"This should serve as awakening moment for Indonesian karate athletes. To rise, it is not necessary for us to wait for becoming a host in the first place. This achievement should continue to be maintained until the next SEA Games in another country.," Tommy Firman said on Monday.

Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Andi Mallarangeng also hailed the Indonesian karateka team, saying the team `missed? its target by exceeding it. He said that they missed the target to win five gold medals because it grabbed 10.

The Indonesian Sports Committee (KONI) has set a target to bag five gold medals in the current Southeast Asian Games.

"The gold medal collection `missed? its target because it exceed the expected five golds," the minister said.

Following is the overall medal tally in the Karate branch (gold - silver - bronze):



1. Indonesia 10 2 4

2. Malaysia 4 2 8

3. Vietnam 3 8 2

4. Thailand 0 2 4

5. Philippines 0 1 6

6. Brunei 0 1 2

7. Myanmar 0 1 3

8. Laos 0 0 4

9. Singapore 0 0 1

10. Timor Leste 0 0 0 (*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2011