Spirit to Achieve the Best
Last year, Indonesia became the champion of the ASEAN Para Games, a consolation for its failure at the SEA Games. Now, our disabled athletes are vowing to achieve their best at this year’s bigger event, the Asian Para Games.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The performance of Indonesian athletes at international event is improving. Their spirit to achieve the best in international competition has grown even bigger ahead of the 2018 Asian Para Games, which Jakarta is hosting on Oct. 6-13.
The Kuala Lumpur 2017 ASEAN Para Games witnessed the strength of Indonesia’s disabled athletes, who clinched 126 gold medals to rise as the champion, leaving the host country in second place with 90 golds.
The national athletes’ achievement was significant, considering that Indonesia took second place two years ago with 81 golds at the same event in Singapore.
In sending off the Indonesian contingent to the 2018 Asian Para Games on Tuesday (2/10/2018), President Joko Widodo conveyed his hopes that the athletes would win many gold medals to make the entire nation proud. It was expected that they would fulfill the goal of being in the top eight Asian Para Games countries.
“I have already mentioned the target of being in the top eight with 16 gold medals. It is okay to miss this, which means making it to the top six or the top five,” the President said in the central courtyard of the Presidential Palace compound in Jakarta.
A total of 296 national athletes will compete in 18 sports against fellow athletes from 42 other Asian countries.
The athletes and 40 coaches, 18 managers, 35 assistant coaches and 33 sports managers attended the ceremony. Also present were Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Puan Maharani, Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi, Indonesia 2018 Asian Para Games Organizing Committee (Inapgoc) chair Raja Sapta Oktohari and Indonesian delegation (CdM) head Arminsyah.
Just like in the 2018 Asian Games, the government has also prepared bonuses to award athletes that win medals at the Asian Para Games, and an opportunity to become civil servants (PNS).
The Indonesian National Paralympic Committee (NPC) believes that the 2018 Asian Para Games offered an opportunity to improve the nation’s achievements at the Paralympics. With the advantage of competing at home, the NPC is optimistic the para athletes would achieve the 18 gold medal target.
“With [our] achievements increasing year by year, we are confident we will perform even better this time. Moreover, this time we are competing at home. We have been able to prove that we can be champions when competing abroad. However, the point is, we should not be careless and underestimate [our] opponents,” said NPC chairman Senny Marbun.
Four gold medals each are expected in badminton, para swimming and chess, three golds in para athletics, two in table tennis and one gold in para powerlifting.
In specific events, such as athletics and swimming, Indonesia is expected to bring home all the gold medals. According to the Indonesia para athletes’ performances through the training camp, preliminaries and recent competitions, they are deemed superior to their opponents.
In swimming, the athletes with the best chance at winning gold are Jendi Panggabean in the 100-meter S9 backstroke, Syuci Indriani in the 200-meter SM14 medley and the 100-meter SB14 breaststroke and Laura Arulia Dinda in the 50-meter S5 backstroke.
Jendi and Laura recorded the best times during the Berlin Open Grand Prix in June. Jendi clocked in at 1:6.46, far ahead of his closest competitor, South Korea’s Yong Hwa-kwon at 1:12.13. Meanwhile, Laura recorded 42.81 seconds in her favorite discipline, the 50-meter backstroke. She defeated senior Kazakh swimmer, who held the event’s Asian record of 42.86 seconds.
“Preparations are generally 100 percent ready. We just have to see the results. From the calculations, the possibility of winning is quite high, considering the recorded times. We know swimming is all about time,” para swimming head coach Handoko Purnomo said last week, when final preparations were being made at the swimming pool in Solo.
In para athletics, the opportunity for gold will come from Saptoyoga Purnomo in the 100-meter T37, Karisma Evi in the 100 m T42 and Nur Ferry Pradana in the 400 m T47.
Saptoyoga is the fastest para runner in Asia with a record of 11.47 seconds. The previous Asian record of 11.51 seconds was made in 2012 by China runner Yong Bin Liang.
“Now the one to beat is Sapto. No one can go over 11.9 seconds. Aside from that, Evi has also excelled. She has recorded a time under 15 seconds, while her closest opponent is still clocking in at 16 seconds,” said para athletics head coach Slamet Widodo.
Non-Paralympic sports
Among non-Paralympic sports, the greatest medal potential is in badminton. Indonesia has four world champion shuttlers: Ukun Ruakendi in the SL3 category, Hary Susanto (SL4), Leani Ratri Oktalia (SU5) and Suryo Nugroho (SU5).
During the 2017 BWF Para Badminton World Championships in Ulsan, South Korea, Ukun and Hary won gold in the men\'s SL3/SL4 doubles, Ukun won the men\'s SL3 singles, Hary and Leani the mixed SL4/SU5 doubles and Suryo, paired with a Singapore athlete, won the men\'s doubles.
Badminton head coach Imam Kunantoro said that Ukun, Hary and Leani would almost certainly win gold in their categories. Aside from being world champions, they would not face any difficult opponents in the three events. They also won gold in the previous Asian Para Games.
Meanwhile, Suryo, the men\'s doubles world champion, is expected to win gold in the men’s singles. He will play with his doubles partner Dheva Anrimusthi in the SU5 category.
“Suryo and Dheva have equal abilities. We hope [the shuttlers] will make an all-Indonesian final. However, they must defeat Malaysia player Cheah Liek Hou, who defeated Suryo in the singles final at the World Championship,” said Imam.
National athletes have a chance at winning two golds in table tennis. The top athlete, David Jacobs, is targeting golds in both the men\'s singles and doubles in the TT10 category.
David said he had a greater chance at gold in the doubles with his shuttling partner, Komet Akbar, because his toughest rival, China’s Hao Lian, who is third in the International Table Tennis Federation’s (ITTF) world rankings, did not play in his category.
“[We can only play] only in a maximum two events. I am playing in the men’s singles and men’s doubles. [Hao] plays in the men’s singles and mixed doubles. Aside from Hao, my toughest rival is the Thai pair, who we defeated during the preliminary match yesterday,” said David.
Even though David is the world’s second best player, one rank above Hao, there was no guarantee that he would win gold in the men’s singles. Even with equal abilities, the match is the defining moment. “[The chance] remains 50:50,” he said.
Meanwhile, chess assistant coach Budi Santoso said the four targeted golds in chess was based on the players’ performances during the preliminaries in Malaysia and Poland. The national athletes’ performances were promising in the tournament, which also saw the participation of Olympic chess players.
“In Malaysia, Satriyo won fourth place in the general category, Hartono Adji won gold in the Paralympic category and Suryanto Edy won silver in the Paralympic category. In Poland, Tati Karhati played against world-class chess players and ultimately placed fifth,” said Budi.
Ensuring readiness
After sending off the Indonesian contingent on Tuesday, President Jokowi also led a limited meeting to ensure the country’s readiness to host the 2018 Asian Para Games. The President expressed his hopes that the Para Games would be just as successful as the
2018 Asian Games in its organization and the athletes’ achievements.
“I ask Inapgoc, the ministers and leaders of relevant institutions to keep checking and monitoring progress in all preparations, especially [during field visits],” he said. (KEL/NTA/LAS)