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NPC, athletes ready for ASEAN Para Games
Senny Marbun (Tribunnews
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Senny Marbun (Tribunnews.com)
Indonesia’s National Paralympics Committee (NPC) chief, Senny Marbun, is confident the nation’s athletes will be up and ready to attend the ASEAN Para Games when it is rescheduled, following its postponement due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The statement was made following organizers’ proposal of rescheduling the event to May 17 or 26, as reported by Kompas. However, the first proposed date of May 17 will be during Ramadan. This has sparked concern as around 80 percent of the athletes are Muslims.
Senny acknowledged that the May 26 option would be preferable.
“In the end, we will follow whatever has been decided by the Youth and Sports Ministry. We are ready for any date,” he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
This has been the second postponement of the ASEAN Para Games as the organizers had previously announced that the Games, which were supposed to be organized in January, would be delayed until March for technical reasons.
Senny said he had not received input from the ministry.
“We hope the ministry will make a decision this week.”
Paracyclist Fadli Immamudin said his sole focus right now was training.
“As an athlete, my sole focus right now is continuing my training. I’ll be ready to follow the government’s decision about this matter,” he said.
Fadli said that since the last postponement, the Tokyo Paralympics had been his focus.
“I’m now trying to attend several international events to get my ticket to the Paralympics,” he added.
The Indonesian contingent comprises 300 athletes, with 38 seeking qualification for the Tokyo Paralympics in August until September.
Paracycling coach Fadilah Umar acknowledged that the postponement was unfortunate and might affect the morale of athletes. However, he went on to say that the postponement had benefited the small group of athletes that aimed to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympics as it gave them time to focus on training.
“The government needs to find a solution for this,” he said.
The Youth and Sports Ministry had earmarked Rp 80 billion (US$5.8 million) for training camps for the ASEAN Para Games and the Tokyo Paralympics. Given the latest updates, the ministry has decided to continue the training camp for the ASEAN Para Games.
“We must cut some activities to ensure the quality of our training,” Youth and Sports Ministry secretary Gatot S. Dewo Broto said.
Gatot vowed that usage of the additional budget for the ASEAN Para Games preparations would not disrupt the budget plan for the Tokyo Paralympics.
Senny Marbun said earlier that around Rp 10 billion would be spent per month for all national training camp activities.
“Before this, we asked all athletes to remain in Surakarta to continue training.”
The national training camp began in April last year and all athletes are prohibited from leaving during the program.
The Indonesian contingent is on a mission to retain its title as overall champion from the 2017 Kuala Lumpur ASEAN Para Games with 126 gold medals, exceeding its initial 106 target, 75 silver and 50 bronze. Indonesia overpowered host country Malaysia, which earned 90 gold medals, 85 silver and 50 bronze. Thailand finished third with 68 golds.
