Fourteen East Nusa Tenggara cricket athletes will compete in the PON National Games XX.Kupang City, East Nusa Tenggar (ANTARA) - Cricket athletes have undergone online training for competing at the PON National Games XX in Papua, chairwoman of the Provincial Board of the Indonesian Cricket Association of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Inche Sayuna, has said.
"During the COVID-19 pandemic, our cricketers continued to train online under the guidance and mentoring of coaches," Sayuna said when contacted by ANTARA here on Saturday.
The online training was organized considering that the country, especially the East Nusa Tenggara province, is still in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, she informed.
However, the pandemic situation has not dampened the spirit of cricketers to continue training, she remarked. They have continued to practice even in the absence of face-to-face meetings, she added.
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"So, the athletes undergo self-training at their respective venues, but are monitored directly by coaches who are connected online," Sayuna said.
She revealed that the online training has been implemented for about two months, and is now gradually starting to be done directly and centered in the cricket field owned by Widya Mandira Kupang University.
"Fourteen East Nusa Tenggara cricket athletes will compete in the PON National Games XX," she said. They will be accompanied by two coaches and one manager, she added.
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The athletes and officials have been vaccinated against COVID-19, and they are currently in excellent health to go to Papua on September 21, 2021, Sayuna said.
"We will depart first because the cricket competition will be held earlier together with football on September 25, while the opening of PON XX is on October 2," she informed.
The Indonesian National Sports Committee (KONI) said last week that sporting venues for Papua's PON National Games XX, scheduled from October 2-15, 2021, are ready, with only minor finishing touches required at some places.
"In general, out of our target, preparations for the PON sporting venues have reached 95-percent completion, with minor finishing touches necessary at some places to complete the process," KONI chairperson Marciano Norman noted in a statement.
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Translator: Aloysius L, Kenzu T
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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