Hunting For New Talents Of Badminton At Peparnas XVII 2024

Leani Ratri Oktila and Hikmat Ramdani are Indonesian badminton athletes at the Paris 2024 Paralympics (Instagram/@oktila_lr).

JAKARTA The head coach at the Indonesian badminton national training camp (Pelatnas), Jarot Hernowo, will monitor new talents at the XVII National Paralympic Week (Peparnas) Solo, Central Java 2024.

The event will take place from October 6 to October 13 nearest. This event is a valuable opportunity for young athletes from various regions to take part in the national selection (Selection) for the regeneration of Indonesian athletes.

"This is actually an evaluation event for athletes from all over the region. However, these regional athletes are distinguished from categories that are already elite or whose status is national athletes," said Jarot.

This year's Peparnas will still use the same regulations in the badminton sport. This rule distinguishes the special categories provided for elite athletes from national athletes.

This elite category is intended for athletes who won individual gold medals at the Peparnas event and those who have appeared in international multi-branches such as the ASEAN Para Games, the Asian Para Games, and the Paralympics.

"We, as coaches, view that this is an opportunity for regional athletes to show the extent of their training because the national athletes have an agenda to compete in elite classes," said Jarot.

At Peparnas, national athletes are allowed to participate in two numbers at once, both in the elite and national categories. Elite athletes are only allowed to follow one match number so they cannot compete in national numbers.

Jarot explained that the achievement at Peparnas is not a single indicator that will be used by the coaching team to attract new athletes.

"We as coaches will also see the talents they have. There are still many factors that we can consider whether they deserve to at least take part in the national selection," he said.

Perparnas 2024 will be enlivened by nine mainstay athletes from the Indonesian badminton team while fighting in the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

They are Leani Ratri Oktila, Hikmat Ramdani, Qonitah Ikhtiar Syakoroh, Khalimatus Sadiyah, Fredy Setiawan, Dheva Anrimusthi, Suryo Nugroho, Subhan, and Rina Marlina. One name absent is Dheva Anrimusthi because he is still focused on recovering.

Currently, the majority of the 2024 Paris Paralympic athletes are still appearing at the Indonesia Para Badminton International 2024 event at the Surakarta Muhammadiyah University (UMS).