Lowokwaru, MC – The All Indonesia Wrestling Association (PGSI) of East Java held the Pra-PON (National Sports Week) XIX wrestling championship in Malang City. A total of 309 wrestlers from all over the country confirmed themselves to appear in the championship held at the Pertamina Building, Brawijaya University (UB) Malang, Sunday (30/11) to Friday (4/12).
The General Chairperson of the Central PB PGSI, Ramidin Saragih, admitted that he was very pleased with the enthusiasm of the wrestling championship in Malang City. He said that Pra-PON was supposed to be held in Jambi, but due to the haze disaster, Jambi canceled it. And fortunately East Java is ready to host the championship.
"From this championship we want to dig up good wrestler seeds that will be Indonesia's mainstay. Among them to face the 2018 Asian Games where Indonesia will be the host," explained Ramidin, Monday (30/11).
In line with Ramidin, the General Chairperson of PGSI East Java, Zainal Arifin, admitted that he was happy that East Java could hold the Pra-PON XIX championship in Malang City. Through this championship, it will be used as a basis to see how far the development of East Java wrestlers is before appearing in PON West Java.
"We want to improve the achievement record of East Java wrestlers who failed to win gold at the Riau PON two years ago. In West Java we hope to win gold," said Zainal.
He added, to be able to realize the ideals, East Java continues to make serious preparations, including by holding Pra-PON. The hope is, through this event it can be used as a benchmark to what extent the opponent's strength map is before facing a very competitive match. (cah/yon)
