Asian Games 2023 Opened Today, These Are the Athletes Carrying the Red and White Flag

Illustration of the 2023 Asian Games. (Photo: Wikipedia)

JAKARTA - The opening ceremony of the 2023 Asian Games was held today, Saturday, September 23, evening, local time. The event will be held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center.

Men's indoor volleyball athlete Hernanda Zulfi and women's wushu athlete Nandhira Mauriskha were chosen to be the bearers of the Red and White flag and the Indonesian nameplate in the Indonesian contingent's march.

Hernanda Zulfi will wear complete traditional clothing from Rote Island, an island at the southernmost tip of Indonesia which is part of the East Nusa Tenggara region. Meanwhile, Nandhira will wear the traditional Betawi clothes brackets.

"Yes, thank God, I am definitely very proud to have been chosen to be the Indonesian flag bearer representing the contingent. There is definitely a feeling of nervousness, but just a little," said Hernanda.

"It is an honor and pride for me to be able to represent Indonesian athletes wearing traditional clothing for the opening ceremony. Of course, this opportunity also motivates me to be able to give the best results at this Asian Games and I hope to be able to fly the Red and White flag on the podium later," said Nandhira as reported by Antara.

The two selected athletes representing the athletes standing at the front of the Indonesian team file are two of Indonesia's most outstanding athletes.

Hernanda, who is a volleyball player who plays as a middle blocker, is not a foreign name in the world of Indonesian volleyball because he has made the Indonesian volleyball team proud several times in international events, such as winning gold medals in three SEA Games events, 2019, 2021 and 2023.

Meanwhile, Nandhira, who is the younger sister of former Indonesian wushu athlete Achmad Hulaefi, is the silver medalist at the 2021 Vietnam SEA Games in the Women's Taolu Jianshu event.

Joining the delegation of the Indonesian team are Deputy Chef de Mission (CdM) Jadi Rajagukguk, Deputy II of the CdM team, Thomas Setiabudi Aden, and Deputy III of the CdM team, Dadang Rukmana, who will wear traditional clothes from West Java. Apart from that, there were also representatives from the Executive Committee of the Indonesian Olympic Committee (NOC Indonesia) and athletes from various other sports.

The 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games will be held from September 23 to October 8. Indonesia will take part in 30 sports at the four-yearly event with 413 athletes departing.

Regarding the medal target at the 2022 Asian Games, Indonesia has set a target of winning 12 gold medals and it is also hoped that the Red and White contingent will finish in the top 12 positions.