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Asian Games: Indonesian Rifky wins first gold in karate
Indonesian karateka won a gold and a bronze medal from the kumite events at the Asian Games.
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Indonesia's Rifki Ardiansyah Arrosyiid celebrates after winning the men's -60kg karate final on day eight of the Asian Games on August 26, 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
I
ndonesia’s karate team added two medals in the eighth day of the 18th Asian Games, with young gun Rifki Ardiansyah Arrosyid and Cokorda Istri Agung Sanistyarani winning gold and bronze in their respective categories on Sunday.
The unseeded Rifky, who serves in the Indonesian Military, showed his fighting spirit by beating his opponents, who mostly ranked higher than him.
In a tight match, the 20-year-old competing in the men's 60 kilogram kumite ensured the first gold for the country's karate squad after ousting defending champion Amir Mahdi Zadeh of Iran 9-7.
This is the third gold for the country's karate squad throughout its participation in the Games. Karate has been included in the Asiad since the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games.
Earlier in the day, Cokorda, popularly known as Coki, who competes in the women's kumite 55 kg division, won the first medal after taking the bronze against Ding Jiamei of China.
She won with a tight score 1-0 after stealing the chance to attack the Chinese fighter in the last minute.
After the bout, Coki said she was happy with the result, an improvement from the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon where she lost in the bronze medal match.
However, she expressed dissatisfaction about being unable to reach the final.
"In the last try out in [Asian Championships] in Jordan, I won a silver medal. I felt like I could have done better than this," she said. (yan)
