Sport in Indonesia
The Republic of Indonesia has a very rich sporting environment. As with most Southeast Asian countries, it has its own martial art, pencak silat, which is a combination of bladed weapons and hand to hand techniques.
pacu jawi cow race in IndonesiaIndonesia also enjoys a number of more modern sports like football and badminton which is arguably their most popular. As a matter of fact, Indonesia has been taking home a lot of Olympic gold medals since the sport's introduction in the Olympic Games in 1992 except for 2012.
Indonesia have also regularly participated in various badminton events like the Sudirman Cup, Thomas Cup and Uber Cup. Indonesia is also one of the forces to be reckoned with in the Southeast Asian Games, being a 10-time champion since 1977.
There is no question of Indonesia's success in badminton but their most popular spectator sport is football. Indonesia is the first Asian country to ever qualify for the FIFA World Cup (1938). The Indonesian national football team has also taken home the bronze in the 1958 Asian Games. Basketball is also quite popular and Indonesia is one of the biggest names in Southeast Asia, along with the Philippines. Other sports like boxing and sepak takraw are also played all over the country, and Indonesia is a popular destination for surfers.
Below are details of sports, sporting events and sports people related to Indonesia.
Popular sports of Indonesia
- Football (Soccer), Badminton, Basketball, boxing, surfing, and sepak takraw
Traditional or Regional Sports
- Pencak Silat — a fighting sport from Indonesia which collectively encompasses martial arts of various styles
- Sepak Bola Api (Fireball Game) - a game of football except the ball is made of flaming fireball.
- Makepung — racing buffalo competition from Bali
Indonesia's Sporting Success
Great athletes from Indonesia
- Susi Susanti, Rudy Hartono, and Taufik Hidayat - the most famous Indonesian badminton players.
- Tontowi Ahmad and Lilyana Natsir - badminton mixed-double team.
- Chris John (boxing)
- Ellyas Pical (boxing)
Indonesia Sports trivia
- Indonesia was the first Asian country to ever qualify for the FIFA World Cup (1938), competing as the Dutch East Indies in 1938
Indonesia at major events
Past sporting events hosted in Indonesia
- 1962 Asian Games, Jakarta
- 2007 AFC Asian Cup (soccer)
- 2018 Asian Games, Jakarta
- 2020 Pekan Olahraga Nasional (National Sports Week)
Upcoming sporting events in Indonesia
- 2024 Pekan Olahraga Nasional (National Sports Week)
Regular sporting events held in Indonesia
- Pekan Olahraga Nasional (National Sports Week) - a national multi-sport competition held every 4 years.
Sporting Facilities in Indonesia
- Gelora Bung Karno Stadium - Gelora, Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, Indonesia. mostly used for football matches and has a seating capacity of over 88,083 spectators
- Palaran Stadium, Samarinda - used for Pekan Olahraga Nasional at 2008
- Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium in Surabaya, used mostly for football matches.
- Pakansari Stadium in Bogor
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