by Abu Hanifah
PALEMBANG, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The 18th Asian Games held in Indonesia's co-host city Palembang, has impressed athletes taking part in the event.
Palembang hosts 13 Asian Games' olympics and non-olympic sports throughout August 18 to September 2, participated by at least 3,100 athletes and officials.
All of those events were held in the new, modern and international-standard venues located in Palembang's 360-hectare Jakabaring Sport City (JSC). To accommodate the Asian Games, the Indonesian government has also built 24.5 kilometers of Light Rail Transit (LRT) lane, linking the airport to the JSC.
The JSC provides an international-standard shooting range and modern facilities for bowling, beach volleyball, rowing, tennis, climbing and roller skating. Expansion projects to make the JSC suitable to host multi-sports international events were settled in 2011, inaugurated by then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Since then, the JSC frequently hosted international events including the 2011 Southeast Asian Games, the 2013 Islamic Solidarity Games, the 2014 ASEAN University Games and the 2017 Asian Triathlon Championship.
Amid her tight schedule and playing in the Asian Games, Chinese top tennis player Wang Qiang, is aware that the JSC has impressed many athletes.
"I think it is very good here, people are friendly and nice, I enjoyed my time here," Wang Qiang told Xinhua after she won her second Asian Games women's singles title after her win at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.
A fire broke out briefly near the JSC but Wang joked that she didn't take it seriously, suggesting that it was probably due to hot temperatures around the JSC. Authorities in Palembang managed to totally extinguish the fire that scorched two hectares in 30 minutes near the bowling stadium.
The volunteers at these events are often the heartbeat of proceedings; providing a valuable service to the athletes, spectators and officials.
"This international event is different from the ones held here. This is bigger with more people from more countries. Many of them don't know much about Indonesia," 23 year-old volunteer Fransisca Amalia told Xinhua.
The university student qualified to join the volunteer squad after she went through several tests following the online application process. She was part of around 2,000 volunteers assigned to serve athletes and officials. Amalia said getting involved in the Asian Games is a very rare opportunity as it might not happen again in Indonesia for some time.
"This is an event that Indonesia hasn't held for 56 years. I am lucky to have the experience to get involved in this event as the volunteer," she said.
For the spectators, the Asian Games is also an opportunity to see some of the best athletes in the world compete on their doorstep. A local Palembang resident, Aminuddin, said he came to watch several matches in tennis and football particularly to see several players he had seen on TV.
"I am curious about how they play in their matches that made them famous for their achievements," the 36 year-old man said, adding that he watched Asian Games matches in beach volleyball, tennis and women's football.
"If the Asian Games was not being held here, I would not have the chance to see their real skills to play in international matches," he added.
He says the level of organisation made him proud to have the Asian Games held in his hometown and now Palembang's name is written in Asian Games history.
