The third day after the official opening ceremony of the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines was a day of jubilation for the Indonesian contingent, with more golds and a youth world record broken by weightlifting protégé Windy Cantika Aisah.

Windy competed in the 49-kilogram category and managed to come out with a total lift — snatch and clean and jerk combined — of 190 kg. Phyo Pyae Pyae of Myanmar came in second place with 180 kg, and third place went to Ngo Thi Quyen of Vietnam with a total lift of 172 kg.

“I present this medal for my father who is having surgery,” the 17-year-old said

Windy’s mother, Siti Aisah was also a weightlifter who secured a bronze medal at the 1998 World Weightlifting Championships in Jakarta.

This is not the first record Windy has set this year. She also broke three junior world records, one in China in April, where the youngster lifted a total of 177 kg; one in Fiji in June, with a total lift of 179 kg; and again in North Korea in October, where her lifts totaled 189 kg.

Indonesia has so far secured 31 medals, comprising six golds, 11 silvers and 14 bronzes and currently ranks fourth on the medal tally.

Windy’s senior Eko Yuli Irawan, who competed in the men’s 61 kg category, finished the competition with a total lift of 309 kg, achieved with both a snatch lift and a clean and jerk lift.

“This is better than the previous SEA Games,” Eko, who only secured silver at the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, said.

In another arena, duathlete Jauhari Johan won his first duathlon gold by clocking in a time of 1 hour, 52 minutes and 51 seconds in the men’s individual category, only 13 seconds ahead of host athlete Joey de la Reyes who finished second and Nattawut Srinatte of Thailand who finished the race just five seconds behind Joey.

Indonesia’s shooting athletes have secured a complete set of medals, winning a total of five medals, comprising two golds, two silvers and a bronze. The golds were won by Rio Danu Utama Thabu in the men’s PPWC WA 1500 category and Tirano Bajo in the benchrest light varmint category. As for the silver medals, they were secured by Safrin Sihombing in the PPC WA 1500 category and Fatur Gustafian in the men’s air rifle category. Shooter Wahyu Aji Putra secured a bronze medal in the benchrest light varmint.

Indonesian Target Shooting and Hunting Association (Perbakin) secretary-general Firtian Yudit Swandarta praised the victories, saying in high confidence that they expected more medals would come their way, thus exceeding Monday's target of three gold medals.

“We are seeing a big window for our athletes to secure more medals in the next days,” Yudi said as quoted by antaranews.com.

The team still has some world-qualifying athletes such as Vidya Rafika, who has secured a spot at the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics, to compete in the women’s 100 RF category.

Wushu athlete Harris Horatius, who secured silver in today’s competition, acknowledged he had done his best given his recent injury.

“This is the best I could do right now and I am fine by it,” Harris, whose left hand was injured during training, said.

In badminton, the women’s team advanced to the final round after defeating Singapore 3-1 at the Muntilopa Sports Complex in Manila.

Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, who competed in the women’s singles category, played the perfect opener by winning in two straight games 21-15 and 23-21 against Yeo Jia Min. The winning momentum then carried over with the second victory presented by women’s double’s pair Ni Ketut Mahadewi Istirani and Apriyani Rahayu, who beat Yujia Jin and Nur Insyirah Khan, also in two straight games 21-8 and 21-8.

Fitriani, who played the third round, however, failed to seal the deal, losing to Jaslyn 21-13, 16-21 and 16-21. In the fourth match, Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhant and Ribka Sugiarto managed to redeem the situation by winning 21-15 and 21-19 against Singapore’s senior players, Shinta Mulia Sari and Crystal Jia Ying Wong. Indonesia will face Thailand in the final round.

A route to the final has also opened up for the 3X3 men’s basketball team, who defeated Vietnam 20-18 in the semifinal. The team will face host team the Philippines in the final.

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