JAKARTA – The 2nd ANOC World Beach Games (AWBG) Bali 2023 is able to create a legacy among millennials. This was stated directly by the Chairman of the Indonesian Olympic Committee ( NOC Indonesia ), Raja Sapta Oktohari .
For the record, AWBG Bali 2023 will be held on 5-12 August 2023. Then the second edition of AWBG will compete in 14 sports, namely 5km open water swimming, beach water polo, beach soccer, beach handball, individual kata karate, kite foil, beach tennis, aquathlon, beach volleyball 4×4, beach wrestling, basketball 3×3, airbadminton, sprint rowing and surfing.
The sports that will be contested are still very common in the ears of the public, such as for example airbadminton. However, Okto -King Sapta’s nickname- considered that AWBG 2023 Bali would leave a positive impression on young people. Remember, the concept of this beach sport itself is a fun sport.
“The sports being contested can be said to be new to our ears, but they will be very interesting and could become a new popular sport in Indonesia. This is because beach sports is a fun sport concept,” said Okto in the release of NOC Indonesia received by MNC Portal Indonesia, quoted Monday (27/3/2023).
“We know how great the interest of the Indonesian people is in badminton. Well, now there is a similar airbadminton but played by three players outdoors which can become a new favorite sport among the younger generation. “Certainly the appearance of our athletes as local heroes is expected to further increase our people’s interest in trying this new sport,” he continued.
Apart from airbadminton, continued Okto, several other sports have the potential to raise their prestige. One of them is surfing, in which Indonesia has a local hero, namely Rio Waida, who is believed to have given his own color to the World Beach Games.
“We’ll see how the popularity of surfing has increased after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Now we have a champion, originally from Bali, namely Rio, who I am sure will be able to further enliven the prestige of this sport,” added Okto.
Just to note, AWBG Bali 2023 will be attended by around 1,500 athletes from more than 130 countries. Those who will appear later must go through a rigorous qualification process until July 2023.
After the implementation of the AWBG, Bali will also have 205 delegates from around the world along with top officials from world sports organizations, namely the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), to the leaders of the International Federation who will attend the ANOC General Assembly on August 13-15.
Source : Sport Star
