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Home , Asian Games, East Asian Games

NOVEMBER 22, 20 DAILY PAGE 14 ASIAD FROM THE PRESS

Glittering day taking a backseat at Asiad for Th ailand celebrated its most glit- It has been a long time since Indonesia fi rst took part in the athletes to China, aimed for victory in at least seven events. tering day so far at the 16th Asian , but as many East Asian countries are steadily But aft er eight days, Indonesia had only collected three gold Games on Saturday, winning six climbing up the medal tower, Indonesia is heading in the medals, seven silver and 10 bronze. gold medals — in sailing, and . opposite direction — slowly slumping to the bottom. Archrival Th ailand is ahead with four gold medals, six sil- Having won only one title in the Indonesian Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng ver and 17 bronze, and neighboring Malaysia follows right first seven days, Thailand’s gold denied Indonesian sports are in decline, but said that top behind with three golds, four silver and fi ve bronze. medal tally is now seven with six days to go. Th e kingdom is target- results are diffi cult to achieve because the Asian Games is a All of the gold medals come from racing, a ing 16 gold medals. world-class competition. non-Olympic sport that might not even appear at the next The Thai winners on Saturday “I think our sports are on the rise. If we look at the South- Asian Games in , . included the sailing pair of Dum- rongsak Vongtim and Kitsada , we used to be in fourth place but now Th e athletes might be very happy winning the gold for Vongtim in the men’s Hobie 16. we are in third, and hopefully we will be No 1 next year,” their country, but more hardwork is required from the It was a special birthday gift Andi said. national sports authority — to try and get dragon boat rac- for Kitsada, who turned 28 on Saturday. “Th is means that momentum is going our way,” he said. ing into the Olympics. “It is a special occasion to win Despite the statement, statistics show Indonesia has Although admitting Indonesia has been left behind by gold, but to win gold on your birth- indeed been left behind. many East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, Andi said day is more special. I can hardly believe it,” Kitsada said. It might be too much to compare Indonesia with other Indonesia is not alone at the back. “It is also a gift for my one- East Asian countries, such as heavyweights like China, Th e minister has his own opinion, arguing Indonesia had month-old son,” he said. or Korea. been mostly absent from the Asian Games podium because In sepak takraw, the Th ai men had few problems in their 2-0 But even among Southeast Asian countries, including of the stiff competition. win over archrivals Malaysia in Vietnam, Th ailand, Malaysia and Singapore, the country “We were a contender at the , but the final to clinch their fourth with the fourth largest population in the world is sitting in when the level is this high at the Asian Games, our athletes consecutive gold. Th ailand coach Kamol Tankimhong said: “Malay- the backseat. are mostly at the back of the pack,” he said. sia was a good team but we had Before the Games, the head of the Indonesian natural instinct.” Sports Council, Rita Subowo, said Indonesia, which sent 140  THE POST In taekwondo, Chutchawal defeated Korea’s Kim Seong-ho 8-6 in the men’s 54kg fi nal. Chutchawal is a volunteer at the Ruamkatanyu Charity Res- cue Foundation. He thanked his friends at the foundation for set- ting up a club to cheer him.  POST Taekwondo squad goes poof! Nepal will return home empty handed from Guangzhou in taekwondo, its most successful sport internationally, aft er its last two players failed to improve their performance on the fi nal day of the event on Saturday. Nepal’s fall from grace occurred after Kumar Manandhar and Sujan Pujari failed to advance to ZHANG CHENGLIANG / CHINA DAILY the quarterfi nals. Until now, Nepal had never colorful Asian Games dragon boat superiors support me, and they will Southeast Asian Games and the missed a medal at the Asian Games, Dragon boats have race competition, which made its have no objection if there is a call Bali . amassing a total of 13 bronze and broad appeal Asiad debut last Tuesday. for me from the National Sports Silo’s teammate, civil servant one silver in taekwondo. Indonesian policeman Silo said Council.” Didin Rusdiana, said he discovered Experienced Manandhar had While many professional ath- he has had no diffi culties joining the For Silo, dragon boat racing has dragon boat racing by accident a forgettable bout against Kim letes struggle to find their way national team because his superiors the same principles as police work. when university students from Seong-ho of Korea in the men’s into the limelight at international were supportive and granted him “Its like a police brigade, one for all Jakarta came to train in his home- -54kg class. Th e sad part was that multi-event sporting competitions, training leave. and all for one,” he said. town, near Bandung, a few years Manandhar did not earn a single such as the Guangzhou Asian “If there is no training camp, I am The Indonesian men’s team back. point in the entire match but lost Games, teams of fantastic amateur a police offi cer as usual, and there consists of policemen, a marine, He hopes his dragon boat racing one due to a warning. boat racers are now unable to avoid is no special treatment for me,” several civil servants and univer- efforts will help the new Asian Relatively young Pujari fared publicity. Civil servants, police said the 25-year-old fi rst brigadier sity students. Sixteen of the 22- Games sport gain global expo- slightly better. He conceded the offi cers, soldiers, nurses, fi remen, officer who works as a training strong squad are new, while the sure as it chases a berth in the men’s -58kg match against Bilguun fishermen, housewives, teachers instructor in Central Kalimantan. rest are members of the previous Olympics. Khosbayar of Mongnolia 9-8. and students have all joined the “But I’m very grateful because my team that competed at several  THE JAKARTA POST  THE KATHMANDU POST