Of course, the Red and White athletes must fight to the fullest if they want to realize the target challenge given by President Joko Widodo when releasing the contingent at the Merdeka Palace, some time ago. At that time, the president asked the Indonesian contingent to improve its position in the medal standings compared to when they competed in the Vietnam SEA Games, namely to be able to enter the top two positions. In fact, Jokowi also hopes that Merah Putih can win more than 69 gold, exceeding the achievements in the previous SEA Games.
Not an easy target of course. Especially if you look at the medal results last Tuesday where Indonesia could only win two gold. Not surprisingly, the gap between the gold medals of the Red and White contingent and first place was quite large, namely around 15 gold. In fact, the surprise was shown by the host, Cambodia, who was able to compete in the top three positions. They even had time to lead in the standings
medal before finally being taken over by Thailand.
If you analyze it, it is very reasonable. Moreover, some of the sports that are contested in Cambodia are relatively new and are typical sports for the host or the Indochina region. Sports such as arnis, xiangqi chess, kun bokator, kun khmer, teqball may still be very foreign to the ears of the Indonesian people. Apart from that, there are obstacle race and floor ball sports which have also recently been contested. It was from there that the hosts were able to gain a lot of gold because they had the privilege of determining the sports that would be contested at the SEA Games this time.
On the other hand, Indonesia had to lose several of its flagship sports because they were not contested. There are at least five sports namely shooting, archery, rowing, chess and bowling. At the Vietnam SEA Games, shooting donated eight gold. From archery sports, Indonesia gained five gold. Meanwhile, the paddle contributed 14 gold. From chess and bowling, Indonesia won three gold and two gold in Vietnam.
If calculated, Indonesia has lost the potential of 32 gold medals in these sports. This means that the loss must be replaced by other sports. However, again it was not easy because in the SEA Games this time there were more team numbers being contested.
Seeing the existing conditions, it seems that it will be difficult if Indonesia can enter the top two or match the results of the previous SEA Games, namely in third place in the medal standings. However, we still have to be optimistic because there is still about a week ahead. In addition, some of Indonesia’s leading sports have yet to enter the final round, such as badminton, martial arts and weightlifting.
Apart from that, appreciation must still be given to the athletes who have made Cambodia proud. In fact, some of them surprise. Indoor hockey can emerge as a champion by defeating defending champion Malaysia.
From the new sports, Indonesia can also speak. The Indonesian vovinam team closed their journey at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia with a total of three gold medals. The same thing was inscribed by the kun bokator team who managed to donate a total of three gold. An extraordinary achievement considering the athletes who appeared mostly were other sports athletes who were deliberately “included” to appear in this SEA Games.
Whatever the final results achieved in Cambodia later, of course the Indonesian contingent must carry out an evaluation for future improvements. So far, Kemenpora has consistently adhered to the National Sports Grand Design (DBON) which is the basis for sports development in the country. That of course is true. The SEA Games are not the main target because there are the Asian Games and the Olympics which will be the focus going forward. Even so, the strengthening of Olympic sports must continue to be carried out. That way, Indonesian sports can have a strong foundation when competing at any championship level. ***
