PON begins in frenzied ceremony<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The 14th National Games (PON) was ignited in a
\nhectic opening ceremony at the packed Senayan stadium yesterday.<\/p>\n
But Donald Pandiangan was likely the only one to sweat in the
\ngrand celebration, which was held on a cool day in the usually
\nhot, populous metropolitan city.<\/p>\n
Donald had to overcome a case of nerves before lighting the
\ncauldron with his flaming arrow, to the delight of some 90,000
\nspectators and 13,000 participating athletes who filled the
\n100,000-seat stadium.<\/p>\n
The flame lighting attraction came shortly after President
\nSoeharto declared the Games open.<\/p>\n
\"I was nervous. I felt like I had returned to competition,\"
\nthe 51-year-old archer said afterward.<\/p>\n
The four-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist coached the
\nnational women's trio to an historic silver medal that ended
\nIndonesia's Olympic medal drought in Seoul eight years ago,<\/p>\n
Ironically, the Seoul story repeated itself for Donald when at
\nleast three doves who happened to perch on the cauldron were
\nroasted by the flame. The birds were among thousands of pigeons
\nreleased during the ceremony.<\/p>\n
The International Olympic Committee chiefs endorsed last year
\nthe idea of ending the traditional release of doves at the
\nAtlanta Olympics opening ceremony, acquiescing to mounting
\nprotests from environmentalists and animal lovers that followed
\nthe roasting of doves in Seoul.<\/p>\n
Aside from the unexpected incident, Donald, dubbed Indonesia's
\nRobin Hood, completed his task almost flawlessly.<\/p>\n
He lit his arrow with the torch carried by former track stars
\nPurnomo and Emma Tahapary. A string guided the arrow to the
\ncauldron in a carbon copy of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics opening
\nceremony.<\/p>\n
\"We have anticipated any failures by installing a remote
\ncontrol inside the cauldron,\" said Kusnan Ismukanto, the deputy
\nofficial in charge of the ceremony. The remote control was
\ndesigned to ignite the flame in case Donald missed his mark.<\/p>\n
He added that the device was installed only two hours before
\nthe ceremony began. The organizers also filled the cauldron with
\nparaffin in place of fuel, as planned.<\/p>\n
Organizers used the help of seven rain masters to keep the
\nclouds at bay. A heavy rain poured on the capital four hours
\nafter the opening ceremony concluded.<\/p>\n
Attraction<\/p>\n
As President Soeharto and Vice President Try Sutrisno stepped
\non to the podium, 6,000 students formed a configuration of the
\ntwo leaders' pictures. The configuration was followed by \"Selamat
\nDatang\", a welcoming greeting.<\/p>\n
The arrival of 4,915 sportsmen and women from the country's 27
\nprovinces soon followed, as they made a lap around the track in
\nalphabetical order according to the name of their province,
\nexcept hosts Jakartans, who marched in the rear.<\/p>\n
The PON, which will run until Sept. 20, contests 35 sports
\nwith 509 gold, 509 silver and 599 bronze medals on offer.<\/p>\n
A cultural performance involving 1,500 students blended the
\ntraditional martial art pencak silat with traditional dances and
\ngymnastics in choreography composed by Sentot Sudiarto from the
\nJakarta Art Institute.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, during the National Sports Day celebration at the
\nMerdeka Palace earlier yesterday morning, Soeharto urged sports
\nofficials to become self-sufficient through a beneficial
\npartnership with the business community.<\/p>\n
\"The development of sports requires an abundance of
\nfacilities, which needs a lot of cash. The government has a very
\nlimited capability to build such facilities because we are now
\nfocusing on other sectors,\" the President said.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that the partnership between the sports and
\nbusiness communities has worked well so far, but said that a more
\nextensive degree of cooperation will be needed in the coming
\nyears.<\/p>\n
The 19th Southeast Asian Games here next year will be the
\nfirst Games to be fully funded by the private sector. A
\nconsortium of Indonesian businesspeople led by Soeharto's son
\nBambang Trihatmodjo has agreed to cover the Games budget of Rp 70
\nbillion (US$31 million).<\/p>\n
The President said that the country's economic achievement has
\ngiven a boost to national sporting activities and suggested that
\nsports officials take advantage of the conducive climate to
\ndevelop sports nationwide.<\/p>\n
\"Pushing economic development does not necessarily lead to
\nignoring development in other sectors. Instead, successful
\neconomic development propels success in other fields,\" the
\nPresident said.<\/p>\n
The President awarded Bintang Jasa Utama medals to the men's
\nbadminton doubles team of Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky, who
\nearned Indonesia its sole gold medal in the recent Olympic Games.<\/p>\n
Initiated in 1983, National Sports Day is in commemoration of
\nthe first National Games (PON) in Surakarta 48 years ago. It has
\nmarked the opening of PON since 1985. (amd\/yan)<\/p>\n
Medals -- Page 11<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pon-begins-in-frenzied-ceremony-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }