PANGKALPINANG – Bangka Belitung Island Province’s athlete contingent who will compete in PON XX can finally breath easy and get excited to face this once in every four years league after PT Timah Tbk gave the company assurance to send off the athletes for competing in Papua.
The support given by PT Timah Tbk was delivered through Bangka Belitung’s Indonesian Nasional Sports Committee (KONI) for Babel’s contingent tool departure which is going to compete in PON XX in Papua. The donation worth Rp 1,4 Billion was passed on Friday (17/9/2021) at Depati Amir Pangkalpinang Stadion in front of the athlete representative.
One of the athletes from the Male Solo Pencak Silat Martial Arts branch, Yus Syahrul Mubarak told, at first the athletes were worried about KONI’s limited fundings which could threaten their departure to Papua to be canceled. Though they have gone through intensive training for around 2 years when PON XX was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We, the athletes have heard about the budget limitations. There was also some news that not all athletes can depart. But we keep focusing on our training, even though this problem has been bothering our minds. We keep training under uncertainties about our departure,” said him when interviewed in the Stadion.
After receiving news that his group (of athletes) can depart because of PT Timah Tbk's aid, the athletes are thrilled, excited, and maximized all time available to be keen on their training.
“A few days ago, (after) we heard the news and felt gratefully relieved, because of PT Timah Tbk help, we, all athlete will be able to depart. We can't imagine if we trained so hard but in the end, we couldn’t depart. We will be very disappointed and with no doubt, it will disrupt our focus,” he added.
For this competition, his party will give their best and give the maximum fight in the arena. Even though they hardly attend competition because of the pandemic, this doesn’t make them give up on the situation.
“I will give my best, as maximum as possible in the arena, because this is the chance to make Babel proud. We also really appreciated PT Timah. This Pelatda jacket we have been wearing every day was also given by PT Timah Tbk. It is the only Pelatda jacket I have. I beg for the prayer and support from the public so we could give our best,” he said.
Holding the same opinion, Billiard athlete Jendy who will compete in four-match numbers admitted to being relieved after getting a departure assurance. For him, facing the PON league is an amazing thing, and has been well prepared.
“Preparation is kept on going, also sparring but with coaches. We need to prepare our minds, concentration and focus for this (billiard) match. That was why we couldn’t focus much, thinking about what will happen if we are unable to leave if there were no fundings. Feeling very grateful with this support from PT Timah Tbk,” he said.
He thinks, with donations from some parties to the athlete, this could be new energy to always give their best in the league.
“Appreciation to the parties who have helped Babel’s contingent, including PT Timah Tbk. We strive to give the best result in the upcoming league,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Girls Soccer team’s coach Putri Fila Hadiyanto confirms that her team is ready to compete in PON XX Papua. The team she trained will surely give their best performance.
Babel’s Girl Soccer team is one of the sports branches which is hoped to win the gold medal in PON XX. Responding to this, Fila mentioned the team has trained extra hard amid various shortcomings.
“The team is 95% ready, we will give our best and we are optimist we can take home the gold medal. The public support is also the source of our power and energy,” she said.
She appreciated PT Timah Tbk’s commitment to helping out athletes, especially regarding the athletes' departure. At first, she said, there was no budget for her team departure. There was also a plan to travel to Papua by ship.
“This is very incredible. PT Timah Tbk truly cares about Bangka Belitung sports which have grown very big. Even though there were some uncertainties and doubts about our departure, the company finally gave away this donation. Surely with the aid from PT Timah today, we feel relieved and will surely depart. We are passionate about this,” she said.
“If we weren’t able to depart, we already think of some ways to send our girl soccer team because we have to be there, as Babes is one of the originators for girl soccer competition in PON. So we think we have to be there, even planning to travel by ship to Papua if there was no budget,” she said. (**)
