Megawati Hangestri Joins the Women's National Volleyball Team as Preparations Finalize

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - After being absent from the AVC Nations Cup 2025 last month, Megawati Hangestri Pertiwi has joined the national training camp of the Indonesian women's volleyball team in preparation for the SEA V League 2025. This senior national team is finalizing preparations alongside the U-21 junior team, which will compete in the 2025 World Championship.

Megawati joins the women's national team that is preparing for the SEA V League 2025 in Thailand and the Philippines this August. This Southeast Asian inter-country tournament will mark Megawati's debut with the national team this year after her absence in the Asian inter-country tournament, the AVC Women’s Volleyball Nations Cup 2025 in Vietnam, from June 7 to 14.

Megawati has requested permission not to attend the call from the Central Board of the Indonesian Volleyball Association (PP PBVSI) to strengthen the national team due to an injury and her upcoming wedding. She then fulfilled her promise to join the national team for the SEA V League.

Megawati and her colleagues will begin their journey in the first round of the SEA V League in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, from August 1 to 3, 2025. The second round will be held at the Ninh Binh Gymnasium, Vietnam, from August 8 to 10, 2025.

Although she has joined the national team, Megawati has not been played during the preparatory tournament titled "Moji Volley Cup 2025" at the Police General Kunarto Volleyball Training Center, Sentul, Bogor Regency, West Java, Thursday (24/7/2025). "She is not fully fit yet; it is better for her not to play for now," said the women's national team coach, Octavian, who decided to keep Megawati on the bench.

In the tournament held over four days until July 27, the senior national team competed against the U-21 team and two volleyball clubs, Mabes TNI and O2C Bandung. In the first day's matches, both the senior and junior national teams achieved convincing victories.

The U-21 team defeated the TNI Headquarters with a decisive score of 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-15). Meanwhile, the national team triumphed over Rajawali O2C Bandung with a score of 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-21).

The victory allowed both national teams to record one win and collect three points, with the same set ratio and point ratio. In the next match, the U-21 team will face Rajawali O2C. Meanwhile, the national team is scheduled to compete against Mabes TNI.

For the U-21 team, this tournament serves as the final trial before competing in the World Championship to be held in Surabaya, East Java, starting August 7, 2025. Previously, U-21 coach Marcos Sugiyama stated that they plan to propose an overseas trial, such as in Thailand or the Philippines, while also competing against the national teams of those countries.

"There is also the possibility of the Brazilian national team. I have a good relationship with the Brazilian national team. Therefore, they could come here for training and we could hold a friendly match," said Sugiyama, who has Brazilian and Japanese heritage.

However, the Deputy Head of Development and Achievement of the PP PBVSI, Loudry Maspaitella, also revealed that it would be difficult for the federation to send the U-21 team for friendly matches abroad. The most feasible option is domestic trials, which ultimately materialized through the Moji Volley Cup tournament.

"It is still necessary to conduct trials, not only to assess their capabilities but also to prevent them from getting bored with just training. Moreover, the atmosphere of their training is quite intense, even very intense," said Loudry.