Pre-PON Aceh-North Sumatra Qualification Zone B Followed By 340 Barongsai Athletes

The pre-PON Aceh Qualification Round for North Sumatra 2024 Zone B is officially opened in Pluit Village, Jakarta, Saturday, August 19. (Doc. FOBI)

JAKARTA The pre-PON Aceh Qualification Round for North Sumatra 2024 Zone B has officially opened in Pluit Village, Jakarta, Saturday, August 19. This event will be held until Sunday, August 20.

A total of 340 athletes from six provinces will compete for capabilities and speed. The six provinces in question are DKI Jakarta as the host, West Java, East Java, Central Java, Banten, and DI Yogyakarta.

In the pre-PON 2024 Zone B, there are seven numbers competed. The seven numbers are Free Taolu Barongsai, Traditional Barongsai, Free Taolu Petingsai, and Speed Pekingsai. Then there is also the number of Free Taolu Dragon, Dragon Speed Dragon, Halang Rintang Dragon.

"Everything is competed with international regulations," said the Chief Organizer, Alvin Kennedy, to reporters.

The chairman of the DKI Jakarta Indonesian Barongsai Sports Federation (FOBI) who was appointed as the host, Hilda Kusumadewi, admitted that he was very proud to be appointed as the host for the first time.

Moreover, this is a milestone because the Barongsai was first competed in PON.

"Hopefully this first PON Pre Qualification can run smoothly. Let's remain optimistic. Whoever becomes the champion, let's uphold our slogan of competing to side by side. We are a big family of FOBI who can bring FOBI to excel nationally and internationally," he said in his opening remarks. Pra PON 2024 Zone B in Jakarta.

Meanwhile, the General Chairperson of PB FOBI, Edy Kusuma, congratulated the athletes who competed.

He hopes that all athletes uphold sportsmanship to achieve the best position worthy of competing in the Aceh-North PON.

"This is the first time the Barongsai sport has been competed in PON. This is a milestone. For that I invite all parties to make this momentum the pride of Indonesia's FOBI," he said.

In addition to Zone B, the Pre-PON 2024 Barongsai sport is also competed in Pekanbaru, Riau, which will host Zone A. Then Pontianak was appointed to host Zone C.