Against strong headwinds, Abdul Hafiz tried to keep the throw angle from being overly upward. His strategy resulted in his maiden gold medal in his four SEA Games. He said he was looking forward to the Asian Games.
By
D REYNALDO TRIWIBOWO AND I G A BAGUS ANGGA PUTRA FROM CAMBODIA
·4 minutes read
ANTARA/MUHAMMAD ADIMAJA
Indonesian male javelin athlete Abdul Hafiz throws a throw during a competition at the 2023 SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday (8/5/2023). Abdul Hafiz won a gold medal.
PHNOM PENH, KOMPAS — The Indonesian track and field team added another gold to its medal collection after Abdul Hafiz won the javelin at the Morodok Techo Stadium in Phnom Penh, on Monday afternoon (8/5/2023). Bad weather interfered with the athletes’ performances but Abdul somehow managed to ignore it to earn his first gold at the SEA Games. He said he was looking forward to the higher-level Asian Games.
Abdul beat his opponents with a throw of 69.6 meters he achieved in the third throw, in the first round. Each athlete was given the opportunity to throw three times in the first round and three times in the final round. His best throw in the final round was only 69.34 m, which he made in the first attempt. The farthest throw of the two rounds decided who came out victorious.
Nguyen Hoai Van of Vietnam took silver with a throw of 69.55 m, while bronze went to Abdul's teammate, Agustinus Abadi Ndiken, with a throw of 66.2 m.
It was an improved medal achievement by Abdul from the 2021 SEA Games in Vietnam. At the time, he managed to chalk up a 70.58-meter throw, but had to settle for silver behind Hoai Van (70.87 m). Bad weather was blamed for his and other competitors’ failure to raise their performances.
The weather at the Morodok Techo Stadium experienced a sudden change from being scorching hot to cloudy before rain fell in the windy afternoon. Athletes competed in gusting wind and drizzling rain. According to Abdul, the headwind caused quite strong resistance for the throwing arc.
The participants stayed with the competition and all ended up with moderate results compared with last year's SEA Games. “[It was due to] unfavorable weather. The wind was bad,” Abdul said while also complaining about the javelins provided by SEA Games organizers.
Only now can I hatch the egg and get gold.
He said the grip on the javelin was not the same as the type he had used in practice.
He said he had needed quite some time during the warm-up session to adapt his throwing technique to the javelin type.
Against strong headwinds, Abdul tried to keep the throw angle from being overly upward. His strategy resulted in his maiden gold medal in his four SEA Games. He won silver on the other three occasions. “Only now can I hatch the egg and get gold," he said.
ANTARA/MUHAMMAD ADIMAJA
Indonesian male javelin throwing athlete Abdul Hafiz competes in the 2023 SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday (8/5/2023).
Short of expectation
While failing to improve his throw as he had expected, Abdul said he was satisfied with winning gold.
Looking ahead, he expressed his hope of representing Indonesia at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in September. He was in the team when Indonesia hosted the quadrennial event in 2018 when he was only ranked sixth. Well aware of the much higher level of challenge at the event, Abdul hoped he would be given the chance to try out against overseas athletes.
“I really want a tryout to hone my skills. Overseas athletes have throws 80 m or above. I am excited to spar with them so I am more motivated," he said.
Inthe SEA Games, he has registered his best result to date in the Philippines in 2019 with a throw of 71 m, which earned a silver. He lost to home rival Melvin Calano, who won gold with 72.86 m.
Mustara Musa, the manager of the Indonesian team training center, said that one of the keys to Abdul's success in winning gold was his fired-up motivation to make up for the previous three SEA Games where he had always come up one step short of snatching the ultimate accolade. Abdul had looked resolved to turn his all-silver performance into gold.
The Indonesian track and field team has so far collected four gold medals, with the other three coming from Agus Prayogo (men's marathon), Odekta Elvina Naibaho (women's marathon) and Hendro Yap (20-kilometer walking race).
On the third day of the competition, Indonesia also added another medal from Maria Natalia Londa, who won silver in the triple jump. Other medal winners were Lalu Muhammad Zohri (bronze in 200 m sprint), Odekta (bronze in 5,000 m), and Wahyudi Putra (bronze in 1,500 m).
Elsewhere, mountain bike athlete (MTB) Dara Latifah closed Indonesia’s day of competition by winning a gold medal in the women's cross country eliminator (XCE) event. Teammate Ihza Muhammad won the men's XCE bronze. The MTB team has collected four gold, silver and bronze medals.
In the aquatics arena, diver Gladies Lariesa Garina Haga won silver in the women's 3 m springboard. The men's 4 x 100 m relay team, comprising Farrel Armandio Tangkas, Muhammad Dwiky Raharjo, Joe Aditya Wijaya Kurniawan and Erick Ahmad Fathoni, won bronze.
