T

he Central Java administration has agreed to host the 2019 ASEAN School Games (ASG) in the third week of July. They would be the 11th edition of the largest multi-sport event for high school students in Southeast Asia.

Athletes are to compete in 10 sports: swimming, tennis, track and field, table tennis, volleyball, pencak silat, badminton, sepak takraw, basketball and squash. The same number of sports were held in the previous ASG in Selangor, Malaysia.

Central Java’s Youth and Sports Agency chief Urip Sihabuddin said on Monday that almost everything had been prepared.

“However, we have still to organize the swimming and the court tennis at the Jatidiri Stadium because of unfinished renovation work,” he said.

Governor Ganjar Pranowo expected his officials to work faster on the preparations and also to make sure that everything is under control.

“We could start signing some documents on goods procurement today in order to avoid any unnecessary interruptions,” he said.