Female athletes win Indonesia’s Win golds Madel 18th Asian Games 2018

18th  Asian Games Jakarta

Palembang 2018

Female athletes win Indonesia’s first three 

golds

In

Asian Games 2018

Antara/Palembang/ Jakarta

Indonesians cheered for three female athletes after they won the country’s first three gold medals in the 2018 Asian Games.

Defia Rosmaniar won Indonesia’s first gold in the Poomsae category in taekwondo.

Defia said she was proud and expressed disbelief she could defeat South Korean Yun Ji-hye, who she perceived as her strongest opponent.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo attended Defia’s match when she defeated Yun in the semifinals and later on in the final match when she eventually won the gold medal at Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) Plenary Hall in Jakarta on Sunday (Aug. 19).

President Jokowi personally placed the gold medal around Defia’s neck.

The 23-year-old female athlete admitted that she was nervous when facing Yun in the semifinals. “My heart was beating so fast, but thank God it was smooth sailing after the semifinals. I was still nervous but I just tried to keep my spirits up,” she said.

She said her victories [in previous matches] were her strongest motivation. “I believed in my heart that I could, that I could defeat them,” she said.

Defia revealed that she had gone through grueling training sessions in Korea between March and August this year. It was difficult for her as the training forced her to spend time far from her family.

The sports education student of Jakarta State University was born in Bogor, West Java, on May 25, 1995. Other than Yun, Defia also defeated Iranian Salahshouri Marja, 8.690 to 8.470 in the final match. She said she was first introduced to taekwondo by her older cousin when she was still in middle school.

Previously, Defia had won golds in women’s individual and women’s team in taekwondo in the 2016 National Games (PON) in West Java, as well as in the 2016 Lombok Mataram National University Students Championships. She won silver in senior female’s individual at the 2016 championships.

Second gold

Lindswell Kwok won Indonesia’s second gold in women’s Taijiquan-Taijijian in wushu.

“I dedicate this gold medal to all my fellow Indonesians,” Lindswell said after her match at the Jakarta International Expo (JIExpo) Kemayoran in Jakarta on Monday.

Lindswell successfully defeated Hong Kong, China wushu athlete Uen Ying Juanita Mok, considered her strongest opponent.

“I did no special preparation. I just woke up earlier and made sure I had enough warming up. It’s better to arrive here earlier,” she said.

President Jokowi, Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi, Indonesia Wushu Association (WI) chair Airlangga Hartarto and Indonesia’s chef de mission Syafruddin attended Lindswell’s match, where she won the gold.

Indonesia’s wushu head coach Novita said she was convinced that Lindswell could snatch a gold, especially after China announced that it would not compete in wushu.

Lindswell scored a total of 19.50 points, or 9.75 each in Taijiquan and Taijijian.

The athlete, born in Medan, North Sumatra, on Sept. 24, 1991, is known for her multiple achievements. She is the reigning world champion in wushu, a title that she last defended by winning golds in the 2017 Wushu World Championships in Russia. Previously, she snatched three golds in the 2015 world championships.

Lindswell admitted that she was nervous before her match. However, she remained optimistic that she could win gold, especially as she was fighting on her home turf. “I was very nervous because this would be my last [Asian Games],” she said in Hall B, JIExpo Kemayoran in Jakarta on Monday (Aug. 20).

According to Lindswell, she hated wushu when she was little as she thought it was a difficult artistic sport. She said she was first introduced to wushu at 9 years old by her older brother Iwan Kwok, who currently serves at the WI.

Lindswell is called “South East Asia’s Queen of Wushu” by many after winning consecutive golds in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017.

Third gold

Indonesia’s third gold was also won by a female athlete: Tiara Andini Prastika in women’s downhill in mountain biking.

Tiara became the fastest in the women’s downhill race held in Khe Bun in Subang regency, West Java, on Monday, with a record time of 2 minutes and 33.056 seconds.

Tiara was 9 seconds ahead of the silver and bronze winners. Thai Vipavee Deekaballes won silver after finishing 9.598 seconds behind Tiara. Another Indonesian, Nining Purwaningsih, finished 9.608 seconds behind Tiara and snatched bronze.

Many predicted that Tiara, who ranked 13th globally, would win gold. The prediction came true despite Tiara suffering an injury to her right index finger just a few months before the 2018 Asian Games, which made her unable to participate in the downhill training camp in Melbourne, Australia.

The 22-year-old athlete participated in the 2018 Asia MTB Championships in Danao, Cebu, the Philippines, in May. In the championships, she finished 1.740 kilometers in 51.700 seconds and won third place.

With her latest gold win in this year’s Asian Games, Tiara has proven her ability to make her nation proud in Asia-level competitions.

AG Media Publication in cooperation with The Jakarta Post