Despite the internal conflicts in the national karate training camp, an Indonesian karateka has won gold in the 2018 Asian Games. This should serve as an opportunity for athletes, coaches and officials of the Indonesian Karate-do Federation (FORKI) to set their eyes on the 2020 Olympics.
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JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Indonesian karateka Rifki Ardiansyah Arrosyid has ended Indonesia’s 16-year karate gold drought in the Asian Games. Rifki competed in the 60 kilogram class and won gold after defeating world number-three karateka, Iranian Amir Mahdi Zadeh, 9-7, in Jakarta on Sunday (26/8/2018).
Rifki, with less experience and smaller in physical stature, was clever in stealing points and controlling the match’s rhythm. He relied on his speed and shrewdness in picking his moments of attack to clinch yuko or single points in punches to the body and the head.
Meanwhile, Zadeh was clearly trying to score big points from ippon (three points) and waza-ari (two points) with kicks to the head and the body and body slams followed by punches. Zadeh was often waiting for the perfect moment and, as such, opened up his defenses. Rifki used this to steal points.
“I am grateful toward God and to the spectators who supported me. I remained calm, believing that I could give my best performance,” Rifki said.
Former national karateka Hasan Basri, who won Asian Games gold in 2002, praised Rifki’s shrewdness in using his opponent’s bursts of emotion to attack and gain points. “Rifki was superior in keeping his composure and in his intelligence. He deserved the gold,” he said.
Rifki’s gold ended Indonesia’s 16-year karate gold drought in the Asian Games. Since the sport was included in the 1994 Asian Games, Indonesia had won only two golds before Rifki’s. Karateka Arif Taufan Syamsuddin won Indonesia’s first Asian Games karate gold in 1998 in the 60 kg class and Hasan Basri won gold in the 65 kg class in 2002. In the seven Asian Games between 1994 and 2015, Indonesian karateka won two golds, seven silvers and 11 bronzes.
Apart from Rifki’s gold, Indonesian karateka also won two bronzes this year, namely Cokorda Istri Agung Sanistyarani in the women’s 55 kg and Jintar Simanjuntak in the men’s 67 kg. Previously, Ahmad Zigi Zaresta won bronze in men’s individual kata. Thus far, Indonesian karateka have won one gold and three bronzes in this year’s Asian Games, surpassing the target of one gold.
Youth and Sports Ministry deputy of sports achievement Mulyana said he appreciated the serious planning and athlete development carried out by FORKI, which led to the Asian Games achievements. He said that he hoped the internal conflict during the karate pelatnas would be resolved so that athletes could focus on achieving even more.
The internal conflict erupted after four karateka withdrew from the FORKI limited pelatnas on Jan. 5 this year. This was despite the nation putting their hopes on the four karateka, all of whom had decent world rankings.
The four were Srunita Sari Sukatendel (world number-eight), Cokorda Istri Agung Sunistyarani (number-11), Sisilia Agustiani Ora (number-11) and Ahmad Zigi Zaresta (number-5). Less than a month later, head coaches Philip King Galedo and Delphinus Rumahorbo, high-performance director Frans Seto Subekti and kata coach Abdullah Kadir also withdrew from the pelatnas.
The conflict led to Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi ordering FORKI to accommodate the four karateka in the pelatnas. FORKI eventually agreed to include them in the selection process of the 2018 Asian Games pelatnas. “There must be no organizational conflicts in the future that can harm athletes’ development and achievements. Let us all unite and give our athletes the chance to give their best for the nation,” Mulyana said.
In the future, national karateka training will become more important and strategic as the sport will be contested for the first time in the Olympics in 2020. FORKI chair Gatot Nurmantyo said that the federation had come up with long-term planning to prepare athletes for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Athletes will be sent to various international tournaments, including the WKF Premier League and the Series-A.
“We will visit places with the best training and join all tournaments offering huge points. At the same time, we will evaluate our Asian Games performance. [Our athletes] need to be ready for the tournament in Japan,” Gatot said.
Gatot said that Indonesia aimed to fulfill the 2020 Olympics athletes’ quota, namely six athletes from each country. Therefore, athletes must struggle to gain points and get the best ranking.
Karate head coach Syamsudin said that the closest Series-A tournaments would be in Shanghai and Tokyo. All athletes in the Asian Games pelatnas will join the tournaments to increase their points.
Athletics
Indonesian spectators were euphoric at the athletics event at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Sunday. They were overjoyed by the silver medal won by Emilia Nova in the women’s 100 meter hurdles and by the performance of Lalu Muhammad Zohri, the national sprinter who gained fame after winning the men’s 100 m sprint at the recent 2018 IAAF U-20 World Championships in Finland.
Tickets for the race were sold out and many had to watch the athletics event outside the stadium.
When Zohri was preparing on the track, shouts of “Indonesia! Indonesia!” reverberated through the country’s largest stadium. However, Zohri could only finish seventh out of eight sprinters in the finals of the men’s 100 m sprint.
Chinese Su Bingtian won gold after finishing in 9.91 seconds – a new Asian Games record. Zohri finished in 10.20 seconds.
Indonesia clinched silver in the women’s 100 m hurdles, namely by sprinter Emilia Nova. Her 13.33 seconds was a personal record. Meanwhile, public enthusiasm was also felt at the badminton court.