Indonesia has 233 athletes at the 2026 Asian Taekwondo Open

JAKARTA - Indonesia as the host decided to send as many as 233 athletes to the 8th Asian Taekwondo Indonesia Open Championships 2026 which will take place early tomorrow in Jakarta.

The tournament will be held on August 1-5, 2026 at Tennis Indoor Senayan, Jakarta. A total of 478 athletes from 36 countries will participate in the event, which is a hunt for points towards the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The General Chairman of the Indonesian Taekwondo General Board (PBTI), Richard Taruli Horja Tampubolon, said that this tournament is an opportunity to strengthen Indonesia's position as one of the destinations for international sports tournaments.

"This championship is not only about the match and being a place for Indonesian athletes to hone their best abilities, but it can also have a positive impact on Indonesia," he said in an official statement received.

The 2026 Asian Taekwondo Indonesia Open Championships is included in the G2 World Taekwondo (WT) level tournament. In addition to being one of the events to hunt points towards the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, this event is also an opportunity for athletes to add points for the World Championships.

The tournament will compete in the poomsae (art) and kyorugi (fighting) categories. The poomsae recognized and freestyle categories are scheduled to take place on August 1-2, 2026, while the senior men's and women's kyorugi will be held on August 3-5, 2026.

PBTI Secretary General, Rafael Hotasi Siagian, said that the high enthusiasm made the committee have to limit the number of participants. This is done to maintain the duration of the match.

"A total of 478 athletes from 36 countries are the final figure. We have to limit it because there are rules from World Taekwondo, the tournament cannot be held until the evening. We have to follow that," said Rafael.

Of all the athletes sent down by Indonesia, as many as 31 of them are athletes who have been prepared by PBTI based on the results of the series of the Nusantara Knights Series Championship which rolled in Lampung, Surabaya, Bandung, Bali, and Kediri.

Three of the 31 taekwondoins were prepared by PBTI to represent Indonesia at the 2026 Asian Games, Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. They are Muhammad Bassam Raihan (U-68 kg), Arya Danu (U-80 kg), and Andi Sultan who competed in poomsae.

The remaining 245 other taekwondo athletes come from various countries in the Asia, Europe, America, Africa, and Middle East regions. India is the country with the most foreign participants, namely 61 athletes, followed by Hong Kong with 34 athletes, and the Philippines with 33 athletes.