Jakarta - Dewi Safitri promised she would bring home an Independence Day gift for Indonesia from the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. And the 17-year-old weightlifter did more than just talk by snatching bronze in the girls’ 53-kilogram division on Monday, the first medal for Indonesia at the Games.
Dewi’s third-place podium effort was powered by a 71-kg snatch lift and then a 100-kg lift in the clean and jerk for a combined lift of 171kg.
Her Games performance went one kilogram better than her total at the 2009 Asian Youth Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where she placed third and punched her ticket to the Youth Olympics.
“Before I left for Singapore I promised that I would get a medal as an Independence Day gift for the country. I did it,” Dewi told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday.
Bulgaria’s Boyanka Kostova won the gold with a total lift of 192kg, while silver went to Taiwan’s Kuo Hsing Chun with a 174-kg effort.
Despite the medal, Indonesia’s weightlifting coach, Sodikin, said his star lifter could have done better still.
“That’s not her best performance,” Sodikin said. “I think it was because she felt a bit more pressure as she was the country’s best hope for a medal.”
Sodikin said that last week Dewi lifted 182kg — 77kg in the snatch and 105kg in the clean and jerk — in training before heading off to Singapore.
“But this is still a great achievement and I hope it motivates other young athletes, especially lifters, to excel on the world stage,” he said.
Indonesia’s other star lifter, 16-year-old Zainuddin, failed to follow in Dewi’s footsteps after the pride of the boys squad finished in fifth in the 62-kg division with a total lift of 239kg.
Kim Song-chol, from North Korea, won the gold with a 257-kg total lift, followed by Colombia’s Jose Mena (247kg) and Turkey’s Emre Buyukunlu (246kg).
Zainuddin made the team when he replaced another Indonesian lifter, 15-year-old Sumaryanto, who was younger than the Games’ minimum age requirement for lifters.
The country’s hope to get another medal from badminton was dashed on Tuesday as Evert Sukamta lost 21-11, 14-21, 21-13 to South Korean Kang Ji-wook in boys’ single last eight round.
Renna Suwarno failed to qualify for the girls’ singles quarterfinals after falling 21-12, 22-20 to China’s Deng Xuan in the final match of Group D, Monday.
It was Renna’s first defeat in group play. Deng, meanwhile, advances to the quarterfinals after leading the group with a perfect 3-0 record.
The country’s young cyclists also came up short in their bid to give Indonesia its second medal of the day.
Elga Kharisma Novanda finished 13th in a field of 26 riders in the junior women’s cross-country competition at Tampines Bike Park on Tuesday.
The result came as a disappointment to Elga, who finished second at the same venue in May, to gain a spot at the first-ever Games.
Elga finished the 15.5-km race in 55 minutes and 25 seconds — 8:27 behind the eventual champion, Karolina Kalasova of the Czech Republic.
Linda Indergand of Switzerland took the silver, while the bronze medal went to Canada’s Kristina Laforge.
Indonesia’s Destian Satria finished 28th in the junior men’s cross-country event.
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com
Dewi’s third-place podium effort was powered by a 71-kg snatch lift and then a 100-kg lift in the clean and jerk for a combined lift of 171kg.
Her Games performance went one kilogram better than her total at the 2009 Asian Youth Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where she placed third and punched her ticket to the Youth Olympics.
“Before I left for Singapore I promised that I would get a medal as an Independence Day gift for the country. I did it,” Dewi told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday.
Bulgaria’s Boyanka Kostova won the gold with a total lift of 192kg, while silver went to Taiwan’s Kuo Hsing Chun with a 174-kg effort.
Despite the medal, Indonesia’s weightlifting coach, Sodikin, said his star lifter could have done better still.
“That’s not her best performance,” Sodikin said. “I think it was because she felt a bit more pressure as she was the country’s best hope for a medal.”
Sodikin said that last week Dewi lifted 182kg — 77kg in the snatch and 105kg in the clean and jerk — in training before heading off to Singapore.
“But this is still a great achievement and I hope it motivates other young athletes, especially lifters, to excel on the world stage,” he said.
Indonesia’s other star lifter, 16-year-old Zainuddin, failed to follow in Dewi’s footsteps after the pride of the boys squad finished in fifth in the 62-kg division with a total lift of 239kg.
Kim Song-chol, from North Korea, won the gold with a 257-kg total lift, followed by Colombia’s Jose Mena (247kg) and Turkey’s Emre Buyukunlu (246kg).
Zainuddin made the team when he replaced another Indonesian lifter, 15-year-old Sumaryanto, who was younger than the Games’ minimum age requirement for lifters.
The country’s hope to get another medal from badminton was dashed on Tuesday as Evert Sukamta lost 21-11, 14-21, 21-13 to South Korean Kang Ji-wook in boys’ single last eight round.
Renna Suwarno failed to qualify for the girls’ singles quarterfinals after falling 21-12, 22-20 to China’s Deng Xuan in the final match of Group D, Monday.
It was Renna’s first defeat in group play. Deng, meanwhile, advances to the quarterfinals after leading the group with a perfect 3-0 record.
The country’s young cyclists also came up short in their bid to give Indonesia its second medal of the day.
Elga Kharisma Novanda finished 13th in a field of 26 riders in the junior women’s cross-country competition at Tampines Bike Park on Tuesday.
The result came as a disappointment to Elga, who finished second at the same venue in May, to gain a spot at the first-ever Games.
Elga finished the 15.5-km race in 55 minutes and 25 seconds — 8:27 behind the eventual champion, Karolina Kalasova of the Czech Republic.
Linda Indergand of Switzerland took the silver, while the bronze medal went to Canada’s Kristina Laforge.
Indonesia’s Destian Satria finished 28th in the junior men’s cross-country event.
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com