The West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) contingent for the PON XX National Games bagged its first gold medal after the women’s boulder team emerged victorious in the rock climbing sport.

“We are optimistic that our first gold medal would bolster our athletes to exert more efforts to surpass our target of 17 gold medals for the PON Games,” NTB contingent Chef de Mission Mori Hanafi stated while lauding the women’s boulder rock climbing team’s victory in Mataram, Thursday.

The NTB women’s rock climbing team comprised Nurul Iqamah, Anggun Yolanda, Ayu Fatullah, and Ade Irma Suryani, with Ari Purnomo serving as the team’s coach, according to Hanafi.

“We laud the victory of the women’s rock climbing team and laud all officials, who supported our team to their victory,” Hanafi affirmed.

The NTB women’s rock climbing team defeated its counterparts from East Java, West Java, Jakarta, East Kalimantan, and Riau in the women’s boulder rock climbing final match in Mimika, Thursday.

The chef de mission admitted that the victory of the women’s team was unexpected, as the team’s initial target was only to win the bronze medal, yet their performance in the final match helped them secure the gold medal.

“The women’s boulder rock climbing team is not our priority, as they were initially targeted to win the bronze medal, but they instead surpassed the target and won the gold medal. We hope this would be a good omen for the NTB contingent,” Hanafi stated.

Hanafi informed that the contingent will compete in the women’s team lead climbing and men’s team boulder rock climbing’s qualification matches on Friday (Oct 1).

“The athletes representing the province in the women’s lead climbing are Nurul Iqamah, Anggun Yolanda, and Ayu Fatullah, while the men’s boulder climbing will be represented by Azhar Wan Akbar, Joni Kasria, Fauzan Nurul Islam, and Zulius Mustofa Aji,” the chef de mission noted.

Source: Antara News