The Indonesian Contingent's Struggle at the 2023 Asian Games Begins Today

JAKARTA - The 2023 Asian Games will only open on September 23. However, the Indonesian contingent's struggle began today, Tuesday, September 19.

The Red and White Team will compete in several sports, namely cricket, beach volleyball, men's volleyball, and men's football.

The Indonesian women's cricket team was the first to struggle. Ni Wayan Sariani et al will face Mongolia at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field, at 09.00 a.m. Chinese time, or 08.00 a.m. Western Indonesian Time (WIB).

This opportunity will be historic for the Indonesian national cricket team, which for the first time will compete in the biggest sporting event in Asia, as reported by Antara.

From the beach volleyball court, two Indonesian men's and women's teams are looking at the qualifying round at Ningbo Banbiashan. Danangsyah Y Pribadi, who is paired with Sofyan R Efendi, will challenge the representatives of the Philippine men's team at 09.00 a.m. WIB.

Meanwhile, Bintang Akbar/Mohammad Ashfiya face Palestine at 14.00 p.m. WIB. Then Bernadetta S Herdanti and Nur Atika Sari played against representatives of the Kazakhstan women's team at 15.00 WIB, followed by Dhita Juliana and Desi Ratnasari who played against the Macau team, one hour later.

Still, in the volleyball arena, Dio Zulfikri and his team will have their first pool F match against the Philippine men's indoor volleyball team starting at 18.00 p.m. WIB at the Deqing Sport Center Gymnasium.

The strong Japanese team will be Indonesia's opponent the following day, followed by Afghanistan who will be the final opponent in pool F.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian men's national football team will face Kyrgyzstan in the Group F preliminary match at Zhejiang Normal University East Stadium at 18.30 p.m. WIB.

This match begins the journey of the Garuda team which will next face Chinese Taipei on Thursday and North Korea on Sunday in the battle for the top of Group F.

The Indonesian contingent at the Hangzhou Asian Games which will be held from September 23 to October 8 will be strengthened by 415 athletes and 161 officials with a target of 12 gold medals.

This target is far below Indonesia's achievements when it hosted the Asian Games in 2018, when it collected 31 gold medals, 24 silver and 42 bronze medals in fourth place because it did not compete in a number of superior branches, such as pencak silat, for the Red and White contingent in Hangzhou.

Winning 12 gold medals will also certainly not be easy, because the level of competition is Asian class. However, Indonesian Chef de Mission (CdM) for the 2022 Asian Games Basuki Hadimuljono believes that Indonesian athletes will fight optimally to achieve the specified results.

"God willing, we can enter at least the top 12, with a minimum of 12 gold medals," said Basuki, who is also Minister of Public Works and Human Settlements (PUPR).

According to Basuki, the Indonesian contingent for the Hangzhou Asian Games is planned to be released by President Joko Widodo on September 19.

Schedule of the Indonesian contingent at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, Tuesday, September 19:

Women's cricket: Indonesia vs Mongolia - 08.00 a.m. WIB

Men's beach volleyball: Indonesia vs Philippines - 09.00 a.m. WIB | Indonesia vs Palestine - 14.00 p.m. WIB

Women's beach volleyball: Indonesia vs Kazakhstan - 15.00 p.m. WIB | Indonesia vs Macau - 15.00 p.m. WIB

Men's volleyball: Indonesia vs Philippines - 18.00 p.m. WIB

Men's football: Indonesia vs Kyrgyzstan - p.m. 18.30 WIB.