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Asian Para Games: Mella Windasari secures gold for Indonesia
Mella, a wheelchair user from Indramayu, West Java, used to play badminton and tennis until her friend suggested she try lawn bowls.
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An official measures a distance during the lawn bowls qualifier for Indonesian athlete Reinowati Yugia Sibara and her Indonesian counterpart Mella Windasari at the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex on Sunday. (INAPGOC/Agoes Rudianto)
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aving only started playing lawn bowls last year, Mella Windasari, 32, never imagined she could become an Asian Para Games gold medalist in the sport, which is little known in Indonesia.
Mella, a wheelchair user from Indramayu, West Java, used to play badminton and tennis until her friend suggested she try lawn bowls.
Unlike other sports, lawn bowls was not exhausting. She enjoyed the sport and so decided to register for the Asian Para Games recruitment in November last year.
To her surprise, she was picked for the national team together with 17 other players. From January to August this year, the team trained in Surakarta, Central Java. From last month until the commencement of the Para Games, which began Oct. 6, they trained at the hockey field at Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) sports complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta.
“We trained from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. everyday. Sometimes I got bored. The challenge I faced while training was to maintain my mood,” Mella told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Unless she had a positive frame of mind, she would not be able to bowl well, she said. Playing lawn bowls required a mixture of concentration and positive feelings, Mella added.
Mella could also cheer herself up by chatting with her fellow athletes. Her husband and parents were also a source of motivation for her, she added.
Her hard work paid off, with Mella securing the gold after beating fellow Indonesian Retnowati Yugia Sibarani 21-4, Singaporean Faridah Binte Saleh 21-2, Hong Kong’s Wong Sum Tsz 21-6, Malaysian Rattna Aizah Mohd 17-8 and South Korean Jang Sun-bun 21-6 on Monday.
Mella said after the competition that she still could not believe she had won. Knowing that her competitors had played lawn bowls for many years, Mella said she had not set any high expectations.
As a gold medalist, Mella is set to receive a Rp 1.5 billion (US$98,544) bonus from the government.
However, Mella said she still did not know how she would use the money.
“I never thought about the bonus. I’m still surprised I won,” Mella said with a big smile.
Mella humbly said she was only hoping to play well again in the future.
Indonesian lawn bowls coach Islahuzzaman Nur Yadin said he was optimistic about the performance of the team at the Para Games.
He admitted that Indonesia’s players, who have all played lawn bowls for less than two years, were less experienced than athletes from other countries.
Athletes from South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Japan had, on average, played for more than 10 years, he said.
However, Indonesian athletes were better adapted to the home field, a factor that would help them perform well, he said.
“Playing in Indonesia will also give them extra spirit,” said Islahuzzaman.
This year’s Para Games marks Indonesia’s debut in the sport. Islahuzzaman said most lawn bowls athletes had previously played bowling as the two sports were quite similar.
Shifting from bowling to lawn bowls, an outdoor sport, was quite a challenge, however, as the athletes must be able to bear the heat, he said.
They also had to focus and be calm throughout the game to bowl well, he added.
