Entering its 23rd year, private law firms in the Indonesian capital once again gathered to compete in their annual sporting event, which opened on Aug. 27 and will run every weekend through Oct. 28. 

Sandi Adila, 34, a lawyer with Mochtar Karuwin Komar (MKK), the law firm hosting this year's games, said the event was first established in 1994 by three law firms as a kind of "Olympics" for lawyers to keep employees physically active. 

"The idea at the beginning was that as lawyers, we are busy and mostly sit behind a desk in our day-to-day work. Sometimes there isn't even time to exercise," Sandi, who headed the 2017 PPAKH committee, told The Jakarta Post.

After more than two decades, the games have now grown to involve 16 law firms, each of which must have registered at least 50-60 employees to be able to take part in the games, he said. 

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Among this year's participating firms are Assegaf Hamzah and Partners (AHP), Hadiputranto Hadinoto and Partners (HHP) and Lubis Ganie Surowidjojo (LGS).

The games are being held at the Soemantri Brodjonegoro Stadium in South Jakarta, where the teams face each other in a spirit of friendly competition over two months. 

Consisting of 13 categories, the games include 12 sports and one music competition, of which the winning performance would feature in the closing ceremony on Oct. 28. 

High spirits were palpable on the first day of the games, as the lawyers-turned-athletes battled it out in a tug-of-war. 

 

Tug of War 💪 // Photo Courtesy of EO Roro Jonggrang #PPAKH23 #HostedByMKK #SeeYouInCourt

A post shared by PPAKH XXIII (@ppakh23) on Aug 29, 2017 at 3:26am PDT

The final tug-of-war round saw seven-time champions Ali Budiardjo, Nugroho, Reksodiputro (ABNR) face off against Hanafiah Ponggawa & Partners (HPRP).

In a tense final round, which saw an injury on the ABNR team, HPRP emerged victorious as they claim their gold in a clean sheet set.

Winda Tania, 32, an associate lawyer at HPRP, said the team took the games seriously, and even went as far as hiring a professional tug-of-war coach.

"This was the first time we won gold in the tug-of-war. The previous winners were ABNR, so this is their gold that we've taken. We're extremely happy," she said in an interview shortly following their Aug. 27 win.

Winda, who heads the HPRP contingent this year, said the team members had been practicing intensely across all sports for four months prior to the event. 

The team was driven by their past glory of being games champions for five consecutive years from 2011 until 2015. The law firm claimed its first gold in 2000. 

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In addition to the Rp 38 million (US$2,889) fee for a firm to join the games, Winda said the HPRP also provided support for additional expenses, such as training facilities, coaches and team uniforms. 

"There is pride in winning [...] So the competition is not only at work but also in sports. It also strengthens our solidarity and teamwork as a firm, as we combine our efforts to win," she said. 

In the second week of the games, HPRP beat the Lubis Santosa & Maramis (LSM) soccer team to qualify for the quarter-finals. The soccer tournament will continue throughout the month, with the finals set for Sept. 24. 

Meanwhile, the bowling finals on Sept. 3 saw HHP come in first, followed by Mochtar Karuwin & Komar (MKK) and HPRP. in third. Other sports contested in the PPAKH include badminton, basketball, futsal, tennis, relay races and volleyball. (kes)

Editor's note: Paragraph six and 11 in this article have been corrected.

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