One Hand, Doesn't Stop Kholidin From Remaining In Archery And Competing In The 2022 ASEAN Para Games

JAKARTA - The scorching sun that has "burned" the city of Solo since the morning has not stopped the Indonesian contingent from hunting for gold at the 2022 ASEAN Para Games (APG).

The condition of limited bodies does not reduce their struggle to be able to provide the best achievements for the Indonesian nation, as did one of the archery athletes, Kholidin's son.

If almost all athletes can pull the bow string with one hand, it is different from Kholidin who can only rely on his teeth because his right hand had to be amputated due to an accident in 2017.

This father of two children said that in fact he had been in the world of archery since 2016. At that time his condition was still normal. In order to improve his archery skills, three months since he first started archery he ventured out to take part in various club competitions.

His love of archery led him to win various competitions. In fact, since then, he has participated in more and more competitive events.

But at the peak of his achievements, the incident of falling from a coconut tree made him have to give up his right hand to be amputated. Had stopped for some time to recover, one day he felt really missed archery.

For that he idly went to the club where he used to train. Two or three times he came, he could not resist the urge to raise the bow again and see if his abilities were still the same as before.

"Finally I came home, I put my bow and arrows. Ready to shoot, but confused about what to shoot because I don't have hands," he said.

At that time he could only surrender to God. He asked to be given a way so that he could return to archery. The answer to the prayer he got after seeing the sole of the shoe. At that time he tied the bowstring with the sole of his shoe and used his front teeth to pull the string.

After being able to pull the rope, he tries to shoot arrows at the target. Although not on target, he admitted that he was happy because the arrows were able to be stuck on the board. From there he became more and more excited to continue to improve his abilities.

"I kept shooting until I couldn't eat for three days, at first when I used my front teeth it really hurt. Then I switched to the side teeth, it was bleeding too. Then I switched to the molars until now," he said.

Being able to win a gold medal at an international multi-event sports championship did not make Kholidin forget his work background. Every day, this man from Pekalongan sells porridge in the Sarinah area, Thamrin, Jakarta.

In fact, from his efforts he was able to alleviate a number of relatives who had been unemployed due to being laid off. If at the beginning of selling around 1994 he ran his business alone, now he can invite his brother and sister-in-law to help him.

Had lost a place to sell around 2015 because the arrangement of the city of Jakarta also did not discourage him. Once again, he chose a resigned attitude when faced with these problems.

"I prayed for the best place, three months later through good people I was given a place to sell that was much more comfortable," he said.

His efforts were not separated because of the great love for his family. In fact, he had planned that if he received the bonus for his achievements, some of it would be used to operate his father, who is currently suffering from cataracts.

Kholidin said that initially he did not immediately join as a national athlete but a regional athlete. In the range of 2017-2018 he entered the DKI Jakarta Regional Development Agency. At that time he immediately pursued the recurve number and successfully participated in a number of competitions, including the President's Cup and the Marines Cup.

Furthermore, in 2021 he participated in the XVI Papua 2021 National Paralympic Week (Peparnas) event and succeeded in donating a gold medal for the DKI Jakarta contingent.

While at the National Tournament, Kholidin surprisingly defeated the host athlete who was more favored, Sriyono, in the elite recurve number to open the sport of archery.

In a match held at the Archery Arena, Kampung Harapan, Jayapura, Kholidin brought the host archers to their knees with a score of 6-0.

"Thank God, I got the gold, and then I was drawn to the National Training Center. Indeed, the National Tourism Park was made as a reference," he said.

For his achievements, he admitted that he did not want to be complacent. After the 2022 APG performance, he wants to immediately focus on training to get paralympic tickets in Paris in 2024. Regarding the paralympic selection, this is not the first time.

A few years ago, he had participated in the selection to get a paralympic ticket in the Czech Republic. However, at that time he only managed to reach 7th place so he failed to take part in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic.

However, he doesn't want to recede from his failure and continues to challenge himself to be the best in various sporting events including the ASEAN Para Games. "It was a lesson for me to be more persistent in practicing," he said as reported by Antara.