| Indonesia conquers the surfing gold medal in Bali 2008 |
| Monday, 27 October 2008 10:38 |
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National Team surfing took over the final day at the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) sanctioned Bali Asian Beach Games at Kuta Beach today. After four days of shared fortunes in individual surfing duels, the team event brought national pride and flags to the fore, as the beach crowd enthusiastically supported their teams. In the four surfer team event, riders enter the water in a set order, surfing allocated waves and then exchanging with their next team-mate. An aggregate wave point score for the total of the team decides the ranking of the teams. Three rounds were held to rank the teams for medals. Indonesia posted three strong wins with a ten point margin over Japan each time. Philippines was trying to close the gap with Japan in each round but Japan always held them off. In the final and deciding round, Indonesia’s Made Widiarta and Made Adi Putra picked off the best of the waves and provided the foundation of their team gold medal. Japan’s power surfer Akihihro Makino provided three good wave scores to set his team up for their silver medal. Luke Landrigan [Philippines] thrilled the crowd with a string of carving turns across a nice wave early in the final, setting people thinking of an upset, but it wasn’t to be, as the event unfolded. Team Results: Gold Indonesia Silver Japan Bronze Philippines Bronze Maldives Overall the Bali Asian Beach Games 2008 has been an outstanding success for surfing with its promotion to Asian Olympic bodies, many of whom are now interested in promoting the sport in their countries. The surfing standards have been very high, the teams well managed and the event very professionally conducted. Final Individual Medallists: Men’s Shortboard Division: Gold Made Widiarta Indonesia 1 Silver Made Raditya Rondi Indonesia 2 Bronze Shigenori Suzuki Japan 3 Bronze Carlito Nogalo Philippines 4 Women’s Shortboard Division: Gold Akiko Kiyonoga Japan 1 Silver Yasnier Gea Indonesia 2 Bronze Marianita Alcala Philippines 3 Bronze Diah Rahayu Dewi Indonesia 4 Men’s Aerial Division: Gold Dede Suryana Indonesia 1 Silver Yuichi Kurogi Japan 2 Bronze Made Adi Putra Indonesia 3 Bronze Shuhei Kato Japan 4 Men’s Longboard Division: Gold Yuta Morimoto Japan 1 Silver Luke Landrigan Philippines 2 Bronze Wayan Widana Indonesia 3 Bronze Husni Ridwan Indonesia 4
SOURCE: ISA
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