Hanoi, Vietnam (ANTARA) - Indonesia's team emerged as general champion of the archery sport branch at the 2021 SEA Games in Vietnam by bagging five gold medals and a silver medal from the 10 gold medals up for grabs.
The last gold medal was bagged in the men's team compound event by the Arjuna trio: Adika Deki Hastian, Pratama Hendika Putra, as well as Wisnu Prima Wardhana.
During the competition held at the Hanoi National Sports Training Center, Vietnam, on Thursday, they successfully managed to cinch a close victory over Malaysia's representatives, with a score of 230-229.
With this result, the Malaysian team had to settle for a silver medal, while the bronze medal was won by the Philippines that defeated Thailand, with a score of 231-229, during the match to determine the third place.
"They performed spectacularly. The match was intense because Indonesia was only one point away from Malaysia," Indonesian Archery National Team Head Coach Nurfitriyana stated.
The earlier four gold medals were bagged in the Men's Single Recurve by Arif Dwi Pangestu; in the Men's Team Recurve by Alviyanto Prastyadi, Arif Dwi Pangestu, and Riau Ega Agatha; in the Women's Single Recurve by Rezza Octavia; and in Mixed Recurve by Rezza Octavia and Riau Ega Agatha.
In addition, the silver medal was won by Riau Ega Agatha in the Men's Single Recurve.
This result is far better than that in the SEA Games 2019 during which the Indonesian Archery National Team managed to bag two gold, two silver, and four bronze medals.
"This result is inseparable from their seriousness in carrying out training programs," according to Nurfitriyana, who was one of the women athletes that won a silver medal during the 1998 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
"Moreover, they managed to achieve the best result because they performed freely," she added.
In addition, the achievement of five gold medals exceeds the target set in the 2021 SEA Games by the Indonesian Archery Association's (Perpani's) Executive Board and National Sport Achievement Acceleration Review Team (PPON).
