President Jokowi Releases 576 Indonesian Athletes Who Will Fight In The 2023 Asian Games

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) officially released 576 contingents to take part in the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. (photo via Antara)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) officially released 576 contingents to take part in the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. The release was held at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta on Tuesday 19 September.

Jokowi said that of the hundreds of athletes, they will fight to give their best in each sport (sport) that is being defended. Indonesia itself participated in 30 sports at the 2023 Asian Games.

"Today we will release the 576th contingent to the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou China. As many as 30 sports will be followed," said President Jokowi on the front page of the Merdeka Palace, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, September 19.

The sports that Indonesia participated in at the 2022 Asian Games Hangzhou were aquatics, fencing, athletics, weightlifting, basketball, badminton, bridges, chess, esports, wrestling, jujitsu, karate, and kurash, shooting, bicycle racing, sport cycling, dragon boat (dragon boat), taekwondo, tennis, triathlon, soft tennis, soccer takraw, and wushu.

The Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora) Dito Ariotedjo, who was also present at the release event, stated that of the 576 people who departed, 413 athletes would take part in 30 sports.

In this 19th event, the Indonesian contingent is targeted to be ranked in the top 12. This target is below Indonesia's achievements when it hosted the Asian Games in 2018, which at that time was ranked fourth by collecting 31 gold, 24 silver and 42 bronze medals.

Although the opening ceremony for the 2023 Asian Games will only officially open on September 23, but there are several sports that will be competed first.

On Tuesday, September 19, there were even several Indonesian contingents that had started competing. Some of the sports that started before the opening were cricket, beach volleyball, men's volleyball, and men's soccer.