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ndonesian karatekas for the kata event made a historical clean sweep of the five gold medals offered in their sector at the 26th SEA Games in Jakarta on Saturday.

The host karateka Faizal Zainuddin confidently outclassed Vietnam’s Pham Thai Huyn 5-0 in the men’s kata individual at the Tennis Indoor Stadium in Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex while in the women’s kata individual final, senior fighter Flenty Enoch also snatched a surprise gold by overcoming Vietnamese Do Thi Thu Ha 5-0.

“Praise God that He gave me the way to finally join the SEA Games squad this year. This will likely be my first and last gold in the Games,” said the-37-year-old karateka, who persevered despite being rejected three times in attempts to join the past three SEA Games. Born in 1974, Flenty is the oldest fighter competing in this Games’ karate competition.

Flenty’s SEA Games gold achievement in the women’s kata individual ended the long wait since the last women’s kata gold was won by former karateka, who is now the national coach, Omita Olga Ompi, in the 1999 SEA Games in Brunei Darussalam.

Faizal, with his trio Aswar and Fidelys Lolobua, continued to display host domination in the kata event as they confidently won the third gold by beating Myanmar trio Aung Khant, Tun Kyaw Kyaw and Min Hein Khant in the men’s kata team.
Not long afterwards, the women’s kata team of Dewi Prasetya Kurniawan, Sisilia Agustiani and Yulianti Syafrudin struck the fourth gold by perfectly scoring 5-0 in the finals against Malaysia.

“My individual competition was more nerve-wrecking, especially in the semifinals, as I had to take on the Asian champion from Malaysia [Leong Tze Wai]. I am so glad I made it through,” said Faizal, who with his trio had also won the World Karate Federation’s gold medal at the Istanbul Premier League last September.  

In total, the host karate fighters collected five gold medals, a silver and a bronze from karate’s Saturday opening as senior karateka Umar Syarief wrapped up the day with a 9-1 triumph over Thailand rival Sanphasit Chonlaphan in the finals of the men’s kumite +84 kilogram weight class. Umar beat Pham Quang Duy of Vietnam in the semifinals.

“I am glad that I have been able to hold back my emotions and maintain patience throughout my matches until now. These Games will be my last, as I had kissed the red-and-white flag 14 times. But this gold won’t be my last as I’m still responsible to help win another in the men’s kumite team,” said the 34-year-old, who has been on the national karate squad for 14 years. Umar has been such a consistent gold medal savior for the country the last seven SEA Games consecutively.

Indonesia presently tops the medal tally with 23 golds, 15 silvers and nine bronzes, followed by Singapore, 8-7-8. Of the 11 participating countries, only Timor Leste and Brunei Darussalam have yet to win medals.

In Roller Sports, Indonesian rollers dominated the first day with Devina Pramuditha, Alan Chandra, Ajeng Anindya Prasalita, and Muhammad Oky Andriyanto each grabbing gold for the host.

Indonesia also swept four golds and one bronze in tae kwon do. Three golds came from track and field, two golds in the mountain bike cycling competition and one gold came from canoeing. A sole gold was also snatched by Indonesia Anang Yulianto at the shooting range.