Held at home, the 18th Asian Games not just give Indonesia the opportunity to return to the Asian stage in water polo, but also to make a bold statement by leveling up.

In the August-September event, the Indonesian men’s water polo team will return to the quadrennial competition after having its last appearance at the 1970 Games in Bangkok as a bronze medalist.

Meanwhile, the women’s squad will taste the continental level for the first time at the multisport event cohosted by Jakarta and Palembang of South Sumatra. The women’s event was only added to the Games in 2010.

Both of the Red-and-White teams are certainly expecting favorable results at the Games, following their promising performances at the 2017 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games — a lower-level multisport event in the region.

At the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, the men’s side caused an impressive upset by pulling off a 4-4 draw with eventual gold medalist Singapore in a round-robin match. The match was a high-intensity affair that saw emotions run high as a scuffle broke out in the last quarter, which resulted in Singapore’s Samuel Yu and Indonesia's Beby Willy Eka Paksi being sent out.

Singapore secured the gold medal with 41 goals against Indonesia’s 29 by the end of the competition.

In the meantime, the Indonesian women’s team brought home the SEA Games bronze medal.

Dean Baldwin, a member of the water polo committee for the Indonesian Aquatics Association (PRSI), said while they were excited about the opportunity to take part in the 18th Games, their expectations remained realistic.

“The sports ministry and the Indonesian people are expecting a good result from us; but let’s be realistic,” Dean, who is a national coach, told The Jakarta Post recently.

“We will have China, Japan and Kazakhstan, which went to the Olympic Games and World Championships. We’re not on their level, but we still want to make the top five,” he added.

Dean further said the federation had been serious in its development program to achieve the lofty goals.

“We have brought in two foreign coaches from Serbia, where they play the best water polo in the world,” he said.

“Everyone wants to go to the Olympics, but first we have to go to some tournaments in the region, like the SEA Games. The next [SEA Games] are in 2019, and we want to win a gold medal there.”

In the all-time Asian Games medal tally, the Indonesian men’s side currently sits in seventh place with a total of one silver and four bronze medals from five appearances between 1954 and 1970.

Meanwhile, on the women’s side, Indonesian winger Alya Nadira Trifiansyah said she wanted to be involved in a team that promoted the sport in the country.

Excited Alya said people were beginning to ask about the sport, especially after she and her teammates started sharing their activities on social media.

“[Back in the training camp] we have a great culture now, especially having our Serbian coaches, who are willing to go all out to make us better.

“We need stronger coverage in schools and the media, because it is an interesting game, and everyone should like it,” said the 20-year-old.

The Water polo competition for the Asian Games will be held at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Center.
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— The writer is an intern with The Jakarta Post.

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