Bisnis.comJAKARTA – No less than 308 badminton players from 19 countries competed to become the best in the Xpora Indonesia International Challenge 2023 tournament which was held from August 29 to September 3, 2023 at PBSI Sports Hall in North Sumatra, Medan.

“We are ready to organize this championship. The PBSI North Sumatra sports hall has been smoothed out. It has been beautified to be ready to welcome all the athletes to compete. We are very proud and happy to be able to organize badminton tournaments again international level towards North Sumatra,” North Sumatra PBSI Chairman Suripno Ngadimin said in Medan on Monday.

Apart from Indonesia, badminton players come from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the United States.

Indonesia itself relies heavily on young players in this event, including Alwi Farhan, Yohanes Saut Marcelyno, Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi, Tasya Farahnailah, Muh Putra Erwiansyah/Patra Harapan Rindorindo, down to Zaidan Arrafi Nabawi/Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu.

Senior players confirmed to take part include Tommy Sugiarto, Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani and last year’s Indonesia International Challenge winner Anggia Shitta Awanda/Putri Larasati.

“On behalf of PBSI North Sumatra, we would like to thank PP PBSI for trusting Medan to host an international tournament. We will try to do our best for the comfort of all participants,” Suripno said.

Meanwhile, Tedi M Isman, Regional CEO I of Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), said his party is here to help Indonesian athletes in a competition that could provide the best opportunity to progress in class and get highest results on the world stage.

“This is in keeping with the spirit of Xpora, which is an acronym for Exportation and Diaspora. I hope this can be an encouragement for all our athletes especially as PON will be held in North Sumatra in 2024,” he said.

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