Asian Games: Indonesia Misses Out on Gold in Padel, Takraw and Beach Volleyball - Tempo.co English
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia missed out on gold medals in women's padel, men's sepak takraw and men's beach volleyball at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games on Saturday, settling for one bronze and two silver medals.
In men's sepak takraw, Indonesia's quadrant team fell to hosts Japan in a closely fought three-set final, losing 15-17, 15-9, 13-15 at Mizuho Park Gymnasium in Nagoya.
The Indonesian team took an early 3-0 lead in the opening set, but Japan fought back with solid defense to turn the match around.
Coach Iwan Hermawan said Indonesia's preparations had been limited to two months before the Asian Games, leaving the team with areas to improve in both physical conditioning and technical preparation.
"Indeed, our preparation was limited, only two months before the Asian Games. In the end, we couldn't maximize things related to technique and physical conditioning. This is an evaluation for us to perform better in the future," Iwan said.
He also acknowledged that Indonesia's game plan did not fully match Japan's style and that several players were dealing with injuries.
"In terms of analyzing our opponents' game, we need to be more thorough. Some of our players were also injured and couldn't perform at their best. But whatever the outcome, this is a result that will be a lesson for us going forward," Iwan said.
The men's quadrant silver brought Indonesia's total sepak takraw haul at the Games to four medals: one silver and three bronze medals.
Indonesia also secured a bronze medal in women's padel after Beatrice Gumulya and Novela Putria defeated the Philippines' Danna Abad and Joshea Malazarte 6-0, 6-0 at Nagoya City Higashi Sport Center.
The Indonesian pair dominated the 40-minute match, collecting 54 points compared with 18 for their opponents.
Beatrice and Novela controlled both sets from the start. They won the opening set in 19 minutes before completing another 6-0 sweep in the second set, which lasted 21 minutes.
"Rasanya sangat senang, karena kita sudah main lepas, main bagus, dominan, yang paling penting bisa menghasilkan yang terbaik buat Indonesia, jadi pasti bangga banget," Novela said after the match.
Beatrice said the result was also supported by the mental preparation she and Novela had done since learning the tournament draw.
The bronze was Indonesia's second medal in padel at the Asian Games after Fitriani Sabatini and Fadona Kusumawati reached the women's final.
Indonesia's Bintang Akbar and Sofyan Rachman Efendi also finished with silver in men's beach volleyball after losing to Qatar's Cherif Samba and Ahmed Janko in a three-set final at Hekinan Ryokuchi Beach Court.
The Indonesian pair won the opening set 21-19 after starting aggressively, but Qatar responded by taking the second set 21-16.
Samba and Janko then dominated the deciding set to win 15-8 and claim the gold medal.
The silver was Bintang and Sofyan's first at the Asian Games and marked Indonesia's return to the beach volleyball podium with a silver since the 2018 Asian Games, when Ade Candra Rahmawan and Muhammad Ashfiya finished second.
