Archery Aims for Six Gold Medals at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand

BEKASI, KOMPAS — The Indonesian archery team is aiming for six gold medals at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand. Although the preparations are not ideal, they are optimistic about meeting the target that will replicate the achievement of being the overall champion.

The Indonesian archery team has submitted a total of 14 athletes to the Ministry of Youth and Sports to be sent to the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand. Of the 14 athletes, 8 are recurve archers, consisting of 4 male and 4 female athletes each. The remaining 6 are compound archers (3 male and 3 female athletes).

We are optimistic about the target of six gold medals. Moreover, most of the athletes have experience competing at higher levels, both in Asia and globally.

The Deputy Chairman II for Development and Achievement of the Indonesian Archery Association (PB Perpani), Abdul Razak, stated that with this strength, the target agreed upon with the Ministry of Youth and Sports is six gold medals. This number represents more than half of the total gold medals contested, which is 10 pieces.

"We are optimistic about the target of six gold medals. Moreover, most of the athletes have experience competing at higher levels, both in Asia and globally," said Razak at the national archery training center in Cikarang Timur, Bekasi Regency, West Java, Friday (7/11/2025).

Of the proposed athletes, most are familiar faces on the Indonesian archery team. They include the world-ranked 17th-ranked women's recurve archer and Olympian, Diananda Choirunisa, and the men's Olympians, Riau Ega Agatha, Arif Dwi Pangestu, and Alviyanto Prastiyadi Bagas.

Riau Ega (33) is the most senior and most successful athlete at the SEA Games among his teammates, with a total of six gold medals from five editions. Diananda and Arif each collected three gold medals, followed by Bagas with one gold medal. In the compound division, there is Prima Wardhana Wisnu, who has experience competing at the SEA Games and won one gold medal.

These athletes' achievements have actually reached a higher level, both in multi-sport and singles events. This year, for example, the recurve team won two gold medals at the 2025 Asian Cup through the women's team, consisting of Diananda Chorinusia, Ayu Mareta Dyasari, and Rezza Octavia.

Another gold medal was won by the mixed team consisting of Ayu Mareta and Arif Dwi Pangestu. In addition, Diananda also contributed a silver medal in the women's individual competition.

Meanwhile, the compound team took home two bronze medals through Yurike Nina in the women's individual event. Another bronze medal was won by Prima Wisnu Wardhana and Nurisa Dian Ashrifah in the mixed team event.

At the 2025 World Championship in Gwangju, China, last September, Diananda managed to secure fourth place in the women's individual category. This marks Diananda's best achievement in the individual event at the World Championship.

Optimism regarding the achievement of targets at the SEA Games is growing despite less than ideal preparations. After being affected by budget efficiency measures last February, archery was unable to fully participate in the series of international events, including the World Cup series. As a result, events were selected selectively, as were the athletes participating.

Of the four series of the World Cup, Indonesia only participated in the series in Florida, United States, and Madrid, Spain. In those two series, only one division took part.

Indeed, Razak stated, participation in international events is important for honing and testing the abilities of athletes. In such competitions, athletes can gain a wealth of experience that is beneficial for their development.

On the other hand, the Indonesian archery team is also wary of competitors, especially from the host country Thailand, as well as Malaysia and Vietnam. Razak added that the results from the 2025 Asian Championship in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from November 8 to 14, will serve as the final mapping of the opponents' strengths.

Compound women's archer Ratih Zil'izati Fadhly believes Malaysia will be a strong contender at the upcoming SEA Games. However, she is optimistic that Indonesia can meet its target. Furthermore, she is highly motivated to achieve success in her debut at the biennial multi-sport event.

"In addition to the desire to achieve personal accomplishments, we certainly also want to strive for archery to maintain the overall championship at the SEA Games," said Ratih, who made her debut at the Asian Games earlier in the 2023 edition in Hangzhou, China.

Indonesia won the overall archery title at the 2021 Vietnam SEA Games, winning five gold medals and one silver medal. Compound contributed one gold medal, while the rest came from recurve.

However, at the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games, archery was not contested, preventing the athletes from repeating that achievement. Archery will return to the competition at the 2025 Thailand SEA Games.

Like Ratih, Ahmad Khoirul Baasith is also hoping for a strong performance in his SEA Games debut. Despite only having competed in two international events, the recurve archer is aiming to perform confidently in Thailand.