The Badung Cricket Team emerged as the best, securing both the men’s and women’s championships at the KONI Badung Sport Tourism (KBST)

Jimbaran, baliwakenews.com – The Badung Cricket Team emerged as the best, securing both the men’s and women’s championships at the KONI Badung Sport Tourism (KBST) 2024. The event, held at Unud Field, concluded on Tuesday, June 11, 2024.

According to the Chairman of PCI Badung, Made Widiana, in a statement on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, the KBST cricket competition ran from June 5–11 and featured 14 teams—8 men’s and 6 women’s teams. Teams from five provinces participated, including East Kalimantan, DKI Jakarta, West Java, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), and Bali, as well as several clubs from Denpasar and Badung.

Interestingly, all participating teams were PON (National Sports Week) teams preparing for the prestigious event set to take place in Aceh and North Sumatra in September 2024.

“These athletes from the five provinces are PON 2024 players, and this event served as a try-out for them,” said Widiana.

Badung’s success in claiming both men’s and women’s championships came after defeating DKI Jakarta, which secured second place in both categories. The women’s team from East Kalimantan and the men’s team from West Java claimed third place in their respective categories.

“This success is a testament to the hard work put in over time, resulting in the best achievements in this KBST event,” Widiana added.

Widiana, who also serves as the Head of the Cooperative and MSME Office of Badung, expressed satisfaction with the smooth execution of the event. However, he noted one minor issue: the event schedule. He hopes that in the future, cricket organizers will have the flexibility to choose their preferred timing.

“We from cricket hope to involve international teams and clubs in the future. However, due to summer in many countries, they are preoccupied with their own tournaments,” he explained.

He mentioned that several international teams were interested in participating but were constrained by the event’s timing. To address this, Widiana suggested scheduling future events during the winter in those countries, making it easier for international teams to attend.

“In the meantime, we’ve implemented live streaming and shared it directly with them as part of our promotional efforts,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of KONI Badung, Made Sutama, praised the KBST 2024 cricket event, viewing it as a platform to boost athletic achievements and promote Badung tourism. The event also received full support from the Badung Regency government.

“I appreciate this event and hope it continues to deliver outstanding achievements for Badung and Bali in general,” Sutama concluded.