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Siman breaks games record as RI adds 4 golds

Golden splash: I Gede Siman Sudartawa swims in the men’s 50 meter backstroke race at the the 29th SEA Games in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, on Monday

Fachrul Sidiq and Safrin La Batu (The Jakarta Post)
Kuala Lumpur
Tue, August 22, 2017

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Siman breaks games record as RI adds 4 golds

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span class="inline inline-center">Golden splash: I Gede Siman Sudartawa swims in the men’s 50 meter backstroke race at the the 29th SEA Games in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, on Monday. Siman shattered the Games record to win gold for Indonesia.(JP/Seto Wardhana)

It was a hectic day yet full of pride for Indonesia as favorite swimmer I Gede Siman Sudartawa broke a Southeast Asian (SEA) Games record and snatched a gold medal, while wushu and bowling contributed three more golds in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.

In total, Indonesia bagged four gold medals, six silvers and four bronzes in day two of the 29th Games.

In Monday’s finals, Siman clocked in at 25.2 seconds in the men’s 50-meter backstroke, breaking the biennial event’s previous record set by Quah Zheng Wen of Singapore in 2015.

Siman, 22, who has contributed six gold medals and four silvers for Indonesia throughout his participation in the Games since 2011, snatched his seventh gold this year.

“I am happy to win another gold [at the SEA Games], because my goal is to present as many gold medals as possible for Indonesia,” said Siman, who last won a gold medal at the 2013 Myanmar Games.

“But I was a little bit disappointed because I couldn’t break my personal best in Budapest,” he added.

The Balinese swimmer, who also competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games, reached the men’s 50-m backstroke semifinal during the FINA World Swimming Championship in Budapest last month, clocking in at 25.04 seconds.

Meanwhile, Aflah Fadlan, Triadi Fauzi and Nurul Fajar Fitrianti won silvers in the men’s 400-m freestyle, men’s 50-m butterfly and women’s 100-m backstroke, respectively.

The Indonesian women’s team won a bronze in the 4x100-m freestyle relay.

Wushu also saw an exciting day with two golds from Felda Elvira Santoso in the women’s daoshu and Lindswell Kwok in the women’s taijijian.

“I am very happy. My mother is even happier with my gold medal,” said the 24-year-old Felda, who hails from Surabaya, East Java.

Wushu also contributed two silver medals with Monica Fransisca Sugianto in the women’s daoshu and Ahmad Hulaefi in the men’s daoshu+gunshu. Meanwhile, Muhammad Daffa won a bronze in the men’s qiangshu.

Indonesian wushu team leader Erwin Wijaya said he was happy with Monday’s results. “We are on a positive track to reach our target of winning three gold medals in wushu.”

Lindswell, who contributed the second gold medal, showed no signs of intimidation in an all-out performance that convinced the jurors and elicited cheers from dozens of Indonesian supporters and some foreign spectators.

Lindswell, who won two gold medals for Indonesia in the 2015 SEA Games in Myanmar, emerged as the top finisher after scoring 9.68 points, edging out the host country’s Yee Jo Audrey Chan, who finished second with 9.64 points.

Yee performed first with strong backing from the Malaysian fans packing the venue at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center.

Lindswell said she had been suffering from injuries in both of her knees since 2011.

“But today I am very happy, because I could pull out maximum effort for the game,” Lindswell, who is from Medan in North Sumatra, told reporters after the game.

A dynamic duet of bowlers, Tannya Roumimper and Sharon Adelina Luman Santoso, added a gold medal to Indonesia’s bag after collecting a total of 2,561 points.

Sharon said the achievement was something she had long dreamed of.

“It’s a dream come true. In the last Games in Singapore, we only nailed a silver medal. We’re so happy for today,” she said, as quoted by Antara.

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