Medan (MidLand) – From eastern Indonesia, the spirit of the National Sports Week (PON) held every four years has been brought to the western end of the country, to Aceh and North Sumatra (North Sumatra).
Harapan Bangsa Stadium, Banda Aceh, on Monday (9/9) became the arena for the inauguration of the PON Aceh-North Sumatra which was held for the first time in these two provinces, with the hope that many talented athletes from all over Indonesia will emerge.
Young athletes who excel at the regional level will be able to showcase themselves at the national level, competing this year in 65 sports, 87 disciplines and 1,042 race numbers.
The talents they show off, in addition to aiming for gold, also have the opportunity to be noticed by talent scouts from every national sports federation.
If they are lucky, they can later enter National Training and compete at international levels such as the SEA Games, Asian Games and even the Olympics, replacing senior athletes who have retired.
The hope is that in the long term, the regeneration of every athlete whose job it is to make Indonesia proud on the world stage will continue and not end. This message was conveyed directly by the President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo.
“This PON is an event to produce more of the nation’s best athletes. Creating more world records. “Providing more potential gold medal winners,” Joko Widodo said in his speech at the opening ceremony, Monday (9/9).
In addition to regenerating athletes, PON 2024 is expected to make facilities for various sports equally distributed in Indonesia.
Aceh Acting Governor Safrizal ZA even said that PON 2024 would be a blessing for Serambi Mecca residents due to the presence of sports arenas built to national and international standards.
This legacy is certainly an important part of the emergence of talented athletes in the years to come.
This hope also affects the badminton arena of GOR PBSI North Sumatra, Deli Serdang, who dreams that with the PON 2024, the development of badminton, so far dominated by the island of Java, will be more widely spread.
Head of National Tournaments and Umpires at PBSI, Mimi Irawan, said that the presence of badminton at PON 2024 would be a motivation for regional children in North Sumatra.
With this, he really hopes that athletes outside the Java contingent can become winners or at least provide significant resistance.
However, unfortunately, of the two events played, men’s and women’s team, the semi-finals were still dominated by big teams such as East Java, Central Java, West Java and DKI Jakarta, before finally the two gold medals went to Central Java.
These four provinces always dominate PON badminton year after year, with the previous edition in Papua winning West Java as the overall champion.
“I actually really hope that the winner comes from outside Java. Honestly. But the reality is that in a match that was already so exciting, we still lost 2-3. Don’t lose 5-0,” Mimi said when she met MidLand at GOR PBSI North Sumatra, Thursday (12/9).
PON 2024 badminton still includes five more events, men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. Mimì still hopes that the other provinces will have surprises in store.
“But this is also motivation for regional athletes who will not suffer too much if they lose to those from Java,” he continued.
GOR PBSI North Sumatra, where badminton will be held until September 19, will be set up after PON 2024 with the addition of the public stand which currently can only accommodate 680 spectators.
With this legacy, Mimi hopes that more international championships will be held in this sports hall. She also hopes that the enthusiasm of the people of North Sumatra for badminton will become more alive. These two things will be an important capital for the emergence of reliable badminton players in the future.
“What is clear is that after the conclusion of the PON there will be more seats in the stands. More, therefore there will be more,” he said.
“And remember, in Medan this is a regional training center. Under PBSI. There is a dormitory, there is a canteen, there is a prayer room, so it is very complete,” he added.
Read also: PON Aceh-North Sumatra 2024 Badminton Medals Ranking
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The Flame of Hope for Gold’s Emergence Returns to Los Angeles
The 2024 Paris Olympics will mark a new history for Indonesia, which managed to win gold for the first time in the sport of weightlifting under the name of Rizki Juniansyah and in the sport of rock climbing under the name of Veddriq Leonardo.
Like two sides of a coin, the alarm bells ring behind this for Indonesian badminton which has failed to continue its golden Olympic tradition.
The face of Indonesian badminton at the quadrennial sporting event was saved by women’s singles Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, who won bronze.
Challenging tasks await PBSI as the top parent of Indonesian badminton. Los Angeles, four years later, is proof that the bitter memories of Paris must not be repeated.
Following the Paris Olympics, the Aceh-North Sumatra National Sports Week (PON) 2024 is positioning itself as the right event for badminton players from across the country to showcase their talent and as a springboard before competing at a higher and more prestigious level.
Unlike the edition in Papua where 32 athletes from the national team are still participating, in this edition athletes who have already taken part in the national training cannot participate.
This regulation is certainly very positive in making the competition more competitive for the birth of new names who will become the successors of Taufik Hidayat, Susi Susanti, Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan, Tantowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir, Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu who won gold at the Olympics.
“If I see it personally, Indonesia will have no shortage of badminton athletes. It just depends on how we manage them. It depends on whether they want to be part of a big or small club,” said Mimi Irawan, head of national tournaments and referees at PBSI.
Central Java singles coach Hayom Rumbaka also welcomed this regulation.
According to the former national badminton player who also donated the silver medal to PON 2012 for Central Java, this regulation makes the competition fairer for all regions.
“Yes, regeneration is necessary. This means that non-national teams can also show themselves in this way,” said the 35-year-old.
“Eventually, everything will be distributed equally. Outside of Java, it will eventually be distributed more equally,” he continued.
It is hoped that starting from PON 2024, the goal of equalizing sports in Indonesia, including badminton, will become a reality. Let us echo this prayer together because we can see that at PON 2028, the champions will no longer be the same.
Read also: Coach predicts Central Java to win gold in team final
Read also: Central Java is the “king” of PON 2024 team badminton
Read also: Central Java’s first badminton gold
Publisher: Alviansyah Pasaribu
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