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Underdog Prima takes hard way to gold
Prima Wisnu Wardhana (JP/Seto Wardhana)Indonesian archer Prima Wisnu Wardhana, who earned one of the country’s first two gold medals in the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur last week, is savoring the sweet victory he earned after a long and winding road
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Prima Wisnu Wardhana (JP/Seto Wardhana)
Indonesian archer Prima Wisnu Wardhana, who earned one of the country’s first two gold medals in the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur last week, is savoring the sweet victory he earned after a long and winding road.
According to Prima, it was not just the hard work of hours of training that forged him into what he is today, there were other challenges that shaped him into a calm, yet strong-willed archer.
In the men’s individual compound, which was held one day prior to Indonesia’s Aug. 17 Independence Day celebration, Prima scored 145-144 to take gold. He stunned his archrival Mohd Juwaidi Mazuki of Malaysia for the medal.
During the final, Juwaidi led the match before an unshaken Prima exploited a blunder by his opponent to fight back and wrap it up in victory.
“The Malaysian team has always been my toughest opponent. I am grateful for the result,” he told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.
Wednesday’s was not the first encounter between Prima and Juwaidi, as they met in the Asian Grand Prix Championship in Bangkok in 2015.
In reward, Indonesia’s chef-de-mission Aziz Syamsuddin handed Prima RM2,000 (US$460) for the achievement.
“If God’s willing, I will use the bonus money to build a house for myself,” said Prima.
But, behind all of the fanfare, Prima revealed that he had difficulties in getting a complete set of equipment to use for the 2017 games.
“We have been promised a bow [by the government]. But it remains a promise,” Prima said over the weekend, adding that he just had received the arrows.
He, however, refused to let the disappointment get the better of him. Like any true fighter, Prima decided to strive with whatever he had.
Prima recognized he had met with difficulties from the day he got interested in the sport.
Claiming to be an unpopular individual among his peers, Prima first encountered archery during his grade school in Yogyakarta. The school offered the sport as an after-class activity.
“I used to borrow money to buy the archery gear and its accessories, which cost a fortune,” he said. “I then used the prize money I got from winning archery competitions to pay back the money.”
Having no background in sports in his family, Prima, who started his career in archery in 2008, has proved his skills by winning a host of international championships, including the Shanghai 2017 World Cup Stage and the Asian Grand Prix.
Prima dedicated the golden win to his supportive father Muhammad Putu Ariasa and mother Nurhayanie as well as his coaches and fellow archers.
Despite its lack of funding and sponsors, archery is among the few sports that consistently win medals for Indonesia.
Indonesian archery had its first important milestone when Lilies Handayani, Nurfitriyani Saiman and Kusuma Wardhani won the first women’s team silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.
