"The 15th Bali Provincial Sports Week is being attended by 4,416 athletes consisting of 2,697 male and 1,719 female athletes. They are competing for 1,862 medals in 41 sports disciplines," Bali Province's National Sports Committee (KONI) Chairperson, I Gusti Ngurah Oka Darmawan, remarked here on Monday.
The 15th Bali Provincial Sports Week in 2022 was opened at the Niti Mandala Renon Field, Denpasar, and coincided with the 76th Commemoration Day of the Battle of Margarana or the Puputan Margarana Day.
The province-level sports event in Bali will be closed on November 27, 2022.
"We hope that with the momentum of Puputan Margarana Day, athletes will learn the values of the heroes' struggle and the spirit of puputan (battle) through achievements in the field of sports," Darmawan remarked.
The prestigious sports event in Bali was opened in a lively manner by igniting the sacred fire with a torch.
Art and cultural performances were presented at the opening of the sports week in Bali that was attended by representatives from each district and city.
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Badung District's representatives performed the traditional musical assemble gamelan baleganjur and danced on stage, followed by Bangli District's representatives, who sang a chanty (yel-yel), while Buleleng District's representatives gave a flutes-based musical performance gong suling.
Furthermore, the Denpasar contingent performed the traditional ensemble music gamelan, which was followed by performances from the districts of Jembrana, Gianyar, Karangasem, Klungkung, and Tabanan.
Meanwhile, Bali Governor I Wayan Koster, who opened the sports week, motivated the participating athletes to achieve the best.
"Bali has made an achievement, ranked 5th in the Papua National Sports Week (PON). Now, Mr. Darmawan should (target to) at least level or surpass these achievements," Koster said.
The governor also advised that the competitions be conducted with a spirit of sportsmanship, excitement, and enthusiasm, so that a greater number of best athletes from Bali will emerge.
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Translator: Muliantari, Kenzu
Editor: Suharto
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