"The enthusiasm of Indonesian supporters is amazing. A match always depends on supporters," he remarked while visiting the Patriot Chandrabaga Stadium, here, Sunday evening.
He cited as an example a soccer match between Laos and Hong Kong held last Friday (Aug 10) in the Group A qualification. At least seven thousand tickets were sold out.
Over 26 thousand tickets were sold out when the Indonesian national team played against the Chinese Taipei on Sunday (Aug 12).
"Indonesian supports are awesome, so the B-category tickets were sold out," he remarked.
He expressed hope that similar enthusiasm will continue to prevail during the subsequent matches in various sports disciplines.
The 18th Asian Games will be officially co-hosted by Jakarta and Palembang, South Sumatra Province, from Aug 18 to Sept 2, 2018.
The qualification soccer matches of the Asian Games, however, have been held over the last weekend in Bekasi stadium, among others.
A total of 16,920 athletes and officials from 45 Asian countries have been registered for the Games. Overall, more than 11 thousand athletes will vie for medals in 40 sports and 67 disciplines.
As the host, Indonesia is optimistic of clinching at least 10 gold medals in badminton, martial arts, and athletics, among others, and being included in the top 10 of the medal`s tally.
Reporting by Andi Firdaus
Editing by Fardah, Suharto
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
