K

arateka Donny Dharmawan blamed his bronze finish in the men’s 60-kilogram kumite (fight) on not warming up, as 11 other Indonesians competing on Thursday failed to win medals.

Donny enjoyed a bye in the first round and advanced directly to round eight, where he met Bashar Al Najjar of Jordan. The 26-year-old was stopped by Al Najjar 5-7 at Guangdong Gymnasium.

In a repechage round, Donny cast out three karatekas before winning his first Asian Games bronze.

“I was not warmed up before going onto the [court] while he was quite lucky. He had had a good warm-up in his previous match with the Hong Kong player”, said the bank employee.

Donny, the 2006 World Championship bronze medallist, dispatched Cheung Kwan Lok of Hong Kong in the first repechage round 4-3, banished Dong Mingming of China 7-2 before finally beating off Ulugbek Mukhsimov of Uzbekistan 5-2.

Donny shared the bronze with Tran Minh Duc of Vietnam, who drove away three opponents in another repechage round.

“After I lost to [Bashar Al Najjar] earlier I knew I had to fight more confidently in the repechage round. I’m very happy with the bronze,” he said. “I lost in Doha so this is my first Asian Games bronze. I feel much more confident now.”

Donny’s bronze was the third Indonesian medal in karate after one silver was won by Umar Syarief in the 84-kilogram kumite and a bronze by Faizal Zaennudin in the men’s individual kata.

Darkhan Assadilov of Kazakhstan won the gold medal in the men’s 60-kilogram kumite while Bashar Al Najjar, who defeated Donny in the first round, won the silver.

Assadilov advanced to the final after a 5-3 semifinal win over Sayed Mohammad Amiri of Afghanistan, who was injured during the bout.

“He had a bad luck in the match and I am really sorry for that. If he was not injured, the result might have been different. I was doing quite well in the competition and thank God I have won the gold medal,” said the Kazakh.

Donny said he dedicated the medal to his late mother who passed away on Sept. 3, when he was in preparation for the Asian Games at the national training camp.

“Today I could only call my father,” he said.

Karateka Jintar Simanjuntak did not follow Donny’s steps, as he bowed out during the first round of the men’s 67-kilogram bout against Lee Ji Hwan of South Korea.

Track and field hurdler Dedeh Erawati failed to make her medal dreams come true after finishing sixth in the women’s 100-meter hurdles at Aoti Main Stadium.

Dedeh, who had a best third result in the overall heat on Wednesday clocked in at 13.42 seconds — 0.22 second behind her heat time. Lee Yeon Kyung of South Korea won the gold medal with 13.23 seconds, Natalya Ivoninskaya won the silver with 13.24 seconds while Sun Yawei of China won bronze with 13.27 seconds.

Dedeh said she was disturbed by hurdler Wallapa Punsoongneun, who asked for a delay at the start, which cost the Thai a yellow card.

“I was really disturbed and I think the other runners were feeling the same. We were ‘on fire’ at the time” said the 2009 Guangzhou Asian Championship bronze medalist.

From diving, Dela Dinarsari collected 33.30 points to finish 11th out of 12 divers who competed in the women’s 10-meter platform preliminary at Aoti Aquatic Center. Dela was 43.20 points behind first-place finisher Hu Yadan of China, who collected 76.50 points.

Rower Silo and Muchlis were even worse, finishing ninth out of nine pairs competing in the men’s kayak double 1000-meter final at the Guangzhou International Rowing Center. Silo and Muchlis crossed the finish line at 4 minutes 13.879 seconds.

Compatriots Tarra Anwar and Eka Octarorianus also left empty handed after finishing seventh in the men’s canoe double 1000-meter with 3:52:673.

Sepak takraw players Jusri Pakke, Yudi Purnomo and Husni Uba won their first men’s double preliminary match at group B against China at Haizhu Sports Center and beat India at another group B preliminary match on Thursday evening.

The Indonesian men’s and women’s teams both advanced to Friday’s matches against Japanese teams.