Pangkalpinang – Good news came from the XXI National Sports Week (PON) 2024. Kepulauan Bangka Belitung province (Babel) claims 2 gold, 2 silver, and 6 bronze medals and is in the 25th rank. It exceeds the previous achievement in 2021 which was in the 32nd rank and only claimed 1 gold medal.
Many people appreciated it including the acting governor of Babel Sugito who welcomed one of the champions, a Hapkido athlete, coach, and team in the arrival terminal of Depati Amir Airport on Sunday (15/09/2024).
“On behalf of the provincial government and all people, I would like to express our gratitude. We’re proud of the achievements. It has already exceeded the previous PON. And, we’re still waiting for good news from other athletes. However, it has proved that we can do better and must be better,” said Sugito.
Erwinsyah said that he never thought that we would win the gold medal because the opponents in the national games were tough.
“It’s beyond my expectations. However, gold is every athlete's target. They do their best to claim it,” he said.
Besides Erwinsyah, another champion is Atika Putriani, a Pencak Silat athlete. She is scheduled to arrive in the afternoon. Babel is still fighting to achieve 4 gold medals target from athletics, shooting, aeromodelling, and beach volleyball.
“Let’s support our team. Let it go viral on our social media to congratulate and support them. Hopefully, we can achieve our target,” he hoped.
The achievement cannot be separated from the support of many parties, including the National Sports Council (KONI) of Babel which has made the next decision to prepare the athletes for the next PON in 2027. KONI will train the athletes who claimed medals in PON 2024 and select other potential athletes. The government will also award cash bonuses for athletes up to Rp250 million.
“We surely will continue this good result of a long time improvement. And, we’ve already prepared cash bonuses to express our gratitude. Hopefully, it’ll motivate the athletes,” said Sugito. (Kris/SAS)
