When Ivana Ardelia Irmanto left for China and the Asian Games, her mind understandably wasn’t fully focused on the competition.
Her family’s house in
Sleman,
Yogyakarta, had been covered with ash from the
Erupting Mount Merapi, and the young wushu athlete wasn’t sure she still wanted to make the trip to Guangzhou.
“It was hard for me to leave my home because of what had happened, but I thought I had to go because I had an obligation to my country,” the 17-year-old told state-run news agency Antara on Monday.
It took a while for Ivana to settle in and concentrate on the task at hand in China, but when she did the results surprised even her.
Ivana won a silver medal in her event, the women’s namquan/nandao (form and broadsword), on Saturday. After the third day of competition on Monday, her silver remains Indonesia’s best showing at these Games so far.
“We’re more than just satisfied,” said Ngatino, the national wushu team manager.
“Nobody expected her to win a medal, and that made her feat all the more impressive.”
Ivana was born in Yogyakarta on Sept. 11, 1993, and was introduced to wushu at a local sports club when she was just 9.
“At first, I just watched my older sister and her friends train. Then I got interested and I was hooked,” she said.
It didn’t take long before Ivana was excelling at this traditional Chinese martial art.
She won a title at the 2004 national championships, which earned her a spot on the national team. She went on to win the World Junior Championships in Bali in 2008 and a bronze medal at the 2010 Asian Championships in Shanghai last month.
One of Ivana’s coaches, Andy Sinduadi, said he had also been surprised by Ivana’s podium finish in Guangzhou.
“She was the last to qualify for the Games after winning a bronze in the Asian Championships,” Andy said. “So this was something we did not expect.”
With the adversity she has had to face, Ivana said the key to her silver-medal performance was having the right frame of mind.
“What happened to my hometown, that made me more motivated to win a medal, and hopefully that can bring a smile to all the disaster victims in Yogyakarta,” she said. “In the end, I’m glad I competed.”
Indonesia failed to add a second medal in wushu after Lindswell Kwok finished a disappointing fourth in her event on Monday.
The 2009 world champion entered the taijiquan/taijijian (fist and sword) event as the clear favorite to win the gold medal, with no athletes from powerhouse China in the field.
But Lindswell could only manage a score of 19.1, not good enough for a place on the podium. Chai Fong Ying of Malaysia took the gold with a 19.34.
Ai Miyaoka of Japan (19.34) brought home the silver, while Taiwan’s Wen Ching Ni (19.33) rounded out the top three.
“I think was too confident so I kind of let my guard down a bit,” Lindswell said. “I did my best, but I have to move on from this and just learn from my mistakes.”
Weightlifter Triyatno brought some good news for Indonesia as he clinched the bronze medal in the men’s 69-kilogram class.
Triyatno lifted a total of 321 kg. North Korea’s Kim Kom-suk brought home the gold with a total lift of 324 kg, while Morteza Rezaeian of Iran took the silver.
Two other Indonesian lifters — Okta Dwi Pramita and Raema Lisa Rumbewas — finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the women’s 58 kg category.
In bowling, Ryan Lalisang saw his reign as Asian Games champion come to a disappointing end after he finished eighth in the men’s singles final.
Biboy Rivera of the Philippines topped the field to give his country its first gold in Guangzhou.
