F

inishing at the top of the table at the 18th Asian Games invitation tournament has not given Indonesia enough reason to celebrate, with problems relating to traffic and venue conditions having overshadowed the achievement.

Held over the course of a week, the test event, which involved 18 countries, ended with Indonesia bagging 67 medals — 30 golds, 19 silvers and 18 bronze medals. India, Malaysia and Thailand were the runners-up, securing 20, nine and eight gold medals, respectively.

Indonesia earned most of its gold medals in pencak silat with 10. The men’s national volleyball team closed the tournament with a five-set victory against its B team counterpart to win the gold.

Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi praised the country’s overall performance, saying that the tournament taught all athletes an important lesson about building a fighting spirit.

“The real battle with much stronger and more opponents is waiting for us in the upcoming Asian Games. I have asked all athletes participating in this tournament to learn from and build on their mistakes,” Imam said in a statement.

Despite the achievement, several problems overshadowed the event, namely those related to traffic and venue conditions, according to the Indonesian Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC). Imam acknowledged the shortcomings and promised to conduct a thorough evaluation.

With the obligation to fulfill an Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) requirement ensuring travel times from the athlete’s village to the main venues are under 45 minutes, the committee is racing against time to find solutions to the city’s traffic problems. Adjusting office hours and declaring public holidays for schools across Jakarta were ideas proposed by INASGOC chief Erick Thohir.

Venue conditions have also been a source of criticism. The Asian Athletics Association (AAA) threatened to remove the long jump from the athletics category as the athletics arena at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium did not fulfill international safety standards and therefore could endanger athletes.

INASGOC venues and environment director Arlan Lukman said minor renovations would take place and likely be completed before August to meet venue standards.

The coach of the men’s national volleyball team, Samsul Jais, criticized the locker room at Tennis Indoor Senayan, where volleyball test matches were played, saying it was not fit for volleyball players.

“As a volleyball coach, I am not proud of this because we still do not have a real volleyball stadium. The locker room is not ideal to accommodate 20 players since it is meant for only around four tennis players,” Samsul said.

Furthermore, enthusiasm throughout the week was low. Most events were only attended by students who were directed by their teachers to watch the matches.

Asian Games organizers acknowledged that work needed to be done to leverage public enthusiasm. To galvanize the local fan base, decorations and countdown installations have been set up at Transjakarta bus stations across the capital and the Games’ mascots can be seen in several strategic spots, such as the Semanggi overpass in South Jakarta and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta.

The organizers are also planning to involve schools to promote the event to students.