REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SOLO -- The number of participants of the upcoming Asian Para Games 2018 will reach some four thousand athletes from 42 countries, an increase from around 2.8 thousand athletes from 41 nations during the previous Asian Para Games in Incheon, South Korea. The preparations for the third Asian Para Games, to be held in Jakarta from Oct 6 to 13 this year, has reached some 90 percent, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi said here recently.

Participants are expected to arrive from Sep 26, 2018, onwards, and the Indonesian Asian Para Games Organizing Committee (INAPGOC) has prepared facilities and personnel to welcome them.

"We will welcome them in special way, including by providing special facilities for transportation, accommodation, and meals, which will be adjusted according to the participants' needs," the minister stated.

The minister was in Solo to review the trainings of Indonesian athletes of the National Paralympic Committee (NPC). Nahrawi was accompanied by NPC President Senny Marbun.

"I hope the community welcomes the Asian Para Games 2018 happily in Jakarta. I also hope that Yemen and Palestine will also participate in the Asian Para Games, which could be a momentum of international unity. There must be no political differences during the Games," he remarked.

The Asian Para Games 2018 is preceded by a torch relay in the same way as the Asian Games 2018, starting on Sept 5, 2018. But the Asian Para Games' torch will be relayed only in eight cities.

The Asian Para Games' torch relay started with the lighting of the torch from the Mrapen eternal flame in Grobogan district, Central Java. The torch was later taken to Solo (Central Java), Ternate (North Maluku), Makassar (South Sulawesi), and several other cities in the country.

In the meantime, INAPGOC has made a breakthrough by allowing people with disabilities to watch matches during the Asian Para Games international championship for free.

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