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Indonesian team suffers on last day
Traffic cop: Indonesian cyclists ride in front of the peloton in the women’s road race in Vientiane on Monday
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span class="inline inline-center">Traffic cop: Indonesian cyclists ride in front of the peloton in the women’s road race in Vientiane on Monday. The team failed to take a podium spot. JP/Arief Suhardiman
Indonesian cycling team failed to maintain their gold winning run from the SEA Games’ opening day, pulling up blank on the last day of the competition on Monday.
The red-and-white squad fell far short of podium spots both in the men’s and women’s road races at the Done Noone Village in Muang Saythany, Vientiane.
Santia Tri Kusuma finished best in the women’s team in fifth place. The other members are Dahlina Rosyda, Nurhayati, and Yanthi Fuchianty.
“They sprinted too early within the distance of 1-kilometer prior to finish line. They should have started the sprint race at a distance of 150 meters instead,” team official Sofyan Ruzian said.
Jutatip Maneephan of Thailand won the gold in 3:36.33 for the some 116.1-km track, followed by Malaysian Nor Azian Alias and Vietnamese Thuy Trang Phan.
Dahlina said they languished nearing to the finish line while their opponents kept excelling.
“I am aware that my specialty is in climbing, not in sprinting. I did my best to sprint in the last 10-km but the other teams excelled in the last 1-km before the finish line,” said Dahlina, who finished the race in 15th position.
“I have to admit, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam’s teams are much stronger than our team,” said coach Wahyudi Hidayat.
Their men’s team also looked drained of the energy needed to attack the field.
Vietnam made a one-two finish with Bui Minh Thuy winning the gold medal and Mai Nguyen Hung the silver. Mohd Zamri Saleh followed behind to take the bronze.
Indonesian top cyclist Ryan Ariehaan failed to equal golden run from the day before, crossing the finish line in eighth place. He led fellow Indonesian Tonton Susanto to a one-two in the 40-km individual time trial on Sunday.
His was the third and proved last gold medal, far behind the target of six Indonesia, which won five two years ago, had been vying for.
The other gold medals for the team came from the men’s and women’s downhill at the start of the cycling event, courtesy of Popo Ariyo Sejati and Risa Suseanty.
Thailand collected the same number of golds as Indonesia but scooped up five silver medals compared to Indonesia’s one. Vietnam grabbed the remaining two gold medals on offer in the cycling.
