Menpora Confirms Jokowi's Presence At The Closing Of Peparnas At Mandala Jayapura Stadium

PHOTO VIA ANTARA

JAKARTA - Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora) Zainudin Amali confirmed that President Joko Widodo would officially close the 2021 Papua National Paralympic Week (Peparnas) at Mandala Stadium Jayapura, 13 November.

Zainudin said that in addition to attending the closing ceremony, the president would also directly observe the matches of a sport as well as award medals to the athletes.

"Mr. President Joko Widodo will be present to immediately close the National Tourism Park. It is also his plan that he will visit one of the venues that are holding a match at Peparnas and later the committee will prepare it," said Zainudin as quoted by Antara, Tuesday, November 9.

Previously, President Jokowi was unable to attend the opening ceremony of the national disability sports event on November 5 because he had to undergo quarantine after making a foreign visit, so the task was delegated to Vice President Ma'ruf Amin.

Zainudin assessed that the Peparnas Papua 2021 as a whole ran smoothly until the fourth day of implementation, although it was found that there were still some minor shortcomings.

He believes that matches in all sports can run smoothly and safely until the closing ceremony.

"Because if there is a significant disruption and makes the match stop, it will make a bad record for the whole event. Until today, I think the implementation is still running smoothly and achievements," he said.

Peparnas until the fourth day has recorded a number of record-breaking in several sports, such as swimming and athletics.

Peparnas Papua competed in 12 sports in Jayapura City and Jayapura Regency. The 12 branches contested at the 2021 Peparnas include weight lifting, athletics, boccia, badminton, chess, judo, shooting, archery, swimming, cerebral palsy (CP) football, wheelchair tennis, and table tennis.

They competed for 2,812 medals consisting of 861 gold, 861 silver, and 1,090 bronze in 640 events. West Java was the overall winner of the 2016 National Peparnas.