JABAR EKSPRES – The Indonesian para-badminton team brought home four gold, three silver and three bronze medals from the Canadian Para-Badminton International 2023 event in Ottawa, Canada, on June 14-18.
The achievement is valuable considering that the championship in Canada is part of the event to collect points for Indonesian para-badminton athletes towards the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, France.
Indonesia’s four gold medals were presented by mixed doubles SH6 on behalf of Subhan/Rina Marlina, Hikmat Ramdani/Leani Ratri Oktila in mixed doubles SL3 – SU5, Qonitah Ikhtiar in women’s singles SL3, and from Rina Marlina in women’s singles SH6.
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“In this championship all players showed their best game so that every match was tight since the first round. I am certainly very happy to finally be able to give my best,” Leani Ratri Oktila said in a written statement received in Jakarta on Monday.
At the championship in Canada, Ratri said her partner Hikmat had to compete with makeshift equipment, because he lost his suitcase when he landed in Canada.
“Yes, unfortunately, my mixed doubles partner lost his suitcase when he landed here (Canada). All competition equipment and documents were in the suitcase. This incident is very disturbing to the mind. Even so, my partner struggled with equipment that had to be borrowed. Until the tournament was over, the suitcase was not there even though we were about to return to the country,” said Ratri.
The achievement of four gold medals is a very proud result because it adds points to the Paris Paralympics.
In addition, they are also athletes from the ASEAN Para Games Cambodia 2023 who flew directly to Canada without having to return to Indonesia first.
“The main obstacle faced by athletes is of course the problem of recovery because previously athletes performed at APG directly headed to Canada and also the length of the journey,” said Indonesian para-badminton coach Jarot Hernowo.