The opening of the Asian Beach Games' medal race swung Indonesia's way with the host sweeping all five gold medals on offer Sunday.
The men's and women's dragon boat emerged in joint celebration at Suwung Water Reservoir after they each won the 1000-meter race.
The victory proved a sweet revenge for the men's team against Myanmar, which spoiled Indonesia's medal campaign at last year's Southeast Asian Games in Thailand. Myanmar had to be content with silver. The Philippines came third.
Their female teammates had a tougher task, finally beating China by a whisker of a second.
The gold celebrations continued at Tanjung Benoa where Indonesia also won two gold medals courtesy of Bali-based pencak silat athletes Gusti Ngurah Arya Yudapandita, Sang Ayu Ketut Sidan and Ni Made Dwiyanti.
Yudapandita caused the crowd to cheer with his commanding performance over his rivals from Vietnam and Brunei in the men's artistic event, while Ketut Sidan and Dwiyanti triumphed in the women's doubles over the Vietnamese pair.
In the surfing competition, Made Garut Widiarta outshone his cousin Made Raditya Rondi in the shortboard event.
Indonesia may expect to add more gold to the tally, after the paragliding and bodybuilding contest wrapped up their preliminary rounds Sunday.
The aerial men's and women's team led the standings in paragliding's accuracy event to stage the best chance for the gold, while the muscle contest gives the country another shot at medals through Syafrizaldi, Hendra, and Yefta Leonidas. They managed to reach the final stage, which will take place on Monday.
Other sports, which were still in their early stages of competition, were promising. In volleyball, Andy Ardiansyah and Koko Prasetyo Darkuncoro led an Indonesian charge at Sanur Beach.
The Games, the inaugural beach-related sporting event on the Olympic Council of Asia's (OCA) calendar, still have a long way to go, with the bulk of 65 gold medals offered in the 17 sporting disciplines still to be contested.
The winning start for Indonesia, however, may give the country high hopes of ruling the Asian competition.
With 42 of 45 Asian countries participating, the Games are a good opportunity for the Japanese Olympic entourage to gain leverage for its 2016 Olympics campaign.
"The Asian Beach Games and Bali are giving us a good opportunity to share our vision about Tokyo 2016," Ichiro Kono, chairman of Tokyo 2016 bidding committee, told reporters during a media gathering Sunday.
Tokyo is competing against Madrid, Chicago and Rio de Janeiro for the hosting right. If Japan wins, it will be the second time the country has hosted the world's biggest sporting event.
Meanwhile, OCA President Sheik Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah said he believed the Games would gain prestige in the future.
"I can see that everybody is enjoying the Games. I'm the only man in this game sweating in my suit. The sun, the sand and the sea make up the beauty of beaches in Asia," he said.
"This is the first Asian Beach Games, this is the best record and this is the history of Indonesia."
"Yesterday, the opening ceremony was held at the historical area and these games are historical for Asia. This is the best record. Indonesia deserves the record for developing these kinds of sports."
