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Asian Games torch arrives in Indonesia from India
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The 2018 Asian Games brand ambassador, Susi Susanti, who carried the Asian Games torch from New Delhi to Yogyakarta on board an Air Force plane, arrives in Yogyakarta on July 17. (JP/Bambang Muryanto)
T
he Asian Games torch arrived in Yogyakarta from India on Tuesday, kicking off a torch relay that will go through more than 50 cities in 18 provinces in Indonesia.
The eternal flame was transported on an Indonesian Air Force Boeing 737 that landed in Yogyakarta at 8 a.m. after an 11-hour flight from New Delhi.
The fire, placed in a special tinder box, was carried by 2018 Asian Games brand ambassador Susi Susanti.
Susi, an Indonesian badminton star in the 1990s and gold medalist in women's singles at the 1992 Olympics, handed over the fire to Air Chief Marshal Yuyu Sutisna. Yogyakarta Governor Hamengkubuwono X and Indonesian Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC) head Erick Thohir were also present during the start of the torch relay.
The torch was taken to the Dirgantara Mandala Air Force Museum and will be there for one night.
Erick said the torch came from India because the South Asian nation hosted the first Asian Games in 1951.
“On Wednesday morning, the fire will be brought to Prambanan temple and will be united with fire from Mrapen, Purwodadi, and relayed across 53 cities in Indonesia,” he said.
The joining-of-the-fire ceremony will be led by Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
“The plane bringing the fire was flanked by five Air Force jet fighters –T-50 I Golden Eagles – as a symbol of Air Force's readiness to secure the 2018 Asian Games,” Yuyu said.
He ensured that the fire was kept alive throughout the entire 11-hour flight from India.
The torch will head east from Yogyakarta to Papua before traveling westward through Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Sumatra, and back to Java Island. On Aug. 18, the torch is slated to arrive at the National Monument in Central Jakarta. (evi)
