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ndonesian national anthem “Indonesia Raya” (Great Indonesia) boomed out across the Judo Sports Hall in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, once more on Sunday as an Army first private snatched the last gold medal for the host country on the last day of the judo competition.

On Sunday, Indonesian judokas pocketed one gold and three bronze medals. The day’s medals brought Indonesia’s overall judo medal tally to four golds, two silvers and seven bronzes, placing it second after Thailand, who snatched five golds, three silvers and six bronzes.

Indonesian judoka Horas Manurung fought his way to a gold medal after defeating Myanmarese Zin Linn Aung in the final round of the men’s under 90-kilogram division, by 11 points to one.

Aung won the silver, while Thai Saknarin Kaewpakdee and Malaysian Mohamed Noor Mohamed Ezzat each grabbed one bronze.

The 24-year-old Horas, a native of Medan who is an enlisted man with the rank of first private in the Army’s Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), was visibly overjoyed at the end of his match.

“Our competitors may be strong, but [Indonesia] is definitely stronger!” he told reporters after the match.

Horas said he was not brought up as a judoka.

“I started my judo training just two years ago, virtually starting from scratch,” he said, adding that he had started to gain confidence in his judo abilities after placing third in the national judo championship in 2009, after only five months of intensive training.

This year’s SEA Games is the first one for Horas. So was Sunday’s gold medal.

When reporters asked him whether he was nervous prior to the match, Horas said, “Why should I be afraid of fighting in my own home for my fellow countrymen?”

In other events, Indonesian judokas Krisna Bayu, Desi Yudiyanti and Ira Purnamasari each snatched a bronze medal in their respective divisions.

Krisna claimed the bronze in the men’s under 100-kilogram division, Desi in the women’s under 70-kilogram division and Ira in the women’s under 78-kilogram division.

Both Krisna and Ira had announced they would retire after this year’s SEA Games.

Krisna, a defending champion with multiple gold medals in his 18-year SEA Games career, said he planned to continue to serve his country as the national team’s coach.

“I want to train my juniors to be better and stronger than I ever was,” he told reporters.

Indonesia claimed one gold, three silvers and five bronzes in the 2007 Games in Thailand, and one gold, one silver and six bronzes in the 2009 Games in Laos. (mim)