Klojen (malangkota.go.id) – The Malang City women's basketball team qualified for the last eight of the basketball sport (cabor) of the East Java Provincial Sports Week (Porprov) IX after defeating Blitar City with a final score of 64-55 at the Bima Sakti GOR, Thursday (19/6/2025). Previously, the Malang City men's basketball team had secured a ticket to the last eight after defeating the Jember Regency team with a score of 78-54.
The match between the two top women's teams was fierce, and Malang City's victory over the Blitar City basketball team, which is a tough rival, finally made history.
The Mayor of Malang, Wahyu Hidayat, who was present to watch and provide support together with the Regional Secretary of Malang City, Erik Setyo Santoso and the ranks of the Malang City Government, also appeared happy and proud of the tenacity of the women's team which finally resulted in victory to secure a ticket to the top eight.
"Alhamdulillah, today with an extraordinary struggle, the Malang City women's team managed to win. This is a good capital to face the next round which will definitely be tougher," said Wahyu.
Wahyu said that the victory over Blitar City was not only about strategy, but also the fruit of hard work, discipline, high fighting spirit, and the support of all parties.
Likewise, the Head of the Youth, Sports, and Tourism Agency (Disporapar) of Malang City, Baihaqi, also appreciated the victory of the Malang City women's basketball team. He considered that team cohesion was the main key to victory. "Alhamdulillah, our team has qualified for the top eight. Hopefully the game graph will continue to improve so that we can achieve the best achievements," Baihaqi hoped.
Baihaqi emphasized that the Malang City Government is ready to fully support the athletes' struggle to achieve the best results. Achievement bonuses, to moral injections by mobilizing supporters on the field are also carried out to provide motivation to the players.
Meanwhile, Malang City Women's Basketball Team Coach, Juni Adi Cahyanto, admitted that he was worried when his team fell behind at the start of the match. However, the player rotation strategy he implemented since the first quarter proved to be effective.
"The goal was to drain the stamina of Blitar players. And it was proven, in the third and fourth quarters they started to get tired. At that time we optimized the attack," said the coach who is familiarly called Tatok.
Ahead of the last eight, Tatok expressed the need for a comprehensive evaluation of the team he coaches, especially in the defense sector and minimizing basic errors.
"We have to learn from this match. There are still many mistakes that need to be fixed, especially later in the last eight when facing strong teams like Banyuwangi and Surabaya," he said. (cah/yn)
