I

ndonesian rowers grabbed three of five gold medals going on Monday on the opening day of competition at the Ngalike dam in Naypyitaw.

The gold medals were bagged by Wahyuni/Maryam Makdalena Daimoi in the lightweight women'€™s doubles sculls, Jamaludin, Alidarta Lakiki, Arif, Thomas Hallatu in the men'€™s lightweight quadruple sculls and Ihram/Muhamad in the men'€™s lightweight double sculls.

Wahyuni/Maryam clocked 7:46.42, outpacing Vietnam'€™s Thi Thao Pham/Thi Hai Pham who finished second in 7:47.92. The host'€™s Than Than Nwe/Shwe Xin Latt came in later at 7:50.88.

The Indonesian lightweight men'€™s pair won their event after covering the distance in 7:77.42, ahead of the Philippines'€™ Benjamin/Valentino, who notched up 7:78.46. The bronze belonged to Thailand'€™s Porntawat Inlee/Sajja Weambherm, who made it in 7:31.33.

Indonesia'€™s men'€™s lightweight quadruple team held off Vietnam, scoring the fastest time of 6:49.48. Vietnam trailed in second place in 6:51.51 and Thailand came in third place in 6:52.11.

Team manager Budiman Setiawan said the triple-gold haul had come as a relief and nurtured hope for his rowers in Tuesday'€™s events, which will offer four more gold medals.

In the men'€™s single sculls, debutant Memo failed to spoil favorite Nestor Cordova'€™s medal bid with the Indonesian having to settle for bronze. Cordova of the Philippines earned the gold and the silver went to Myanmar through Aung Ko Min.

Budiman said that young Memo was still lacking experience. '€œApart from that, the wind blew quite hard during the competition and he could not overcome it.'€

According to coach Dede Rohmat Nurjaya, his team had expected only three gold medals one less than the tally in 2011.

'€œWe lowered the expectations knowing that the host would only stage nine rowing events, while the 2011 SEA Games featured 11 events,'€ he said.

With the three golds having materialized, the team is poised to surpass its target on Tuesday.

'€” JP/Irawaty Wardany