Cirebon, 10 September 2023. After going through a long preliminary round, 6 futsal teams from 240 schools vied for tickets to the AXIS Nation Cup 2023 Grand Final. The six schools are SMAN 3 Sukoharjo, SMK Ma'arif NU 1 Ajibarang, SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta, SMAN 8 Cirebon, SMAN 11 Semarang and SMKN Bantarkalong. Previously, they had eliminated dozens of schools in each area, namely Solo, Purwokerto, Yogyakarta, Cirebon, Semarang and Bandung. The competition for the grand final ticket took place in Cirebon, (9/9). SMAN 11 Semarang managed to come out as the winner and advance to the grand final round which will be held at Istora Senayan, next month.
Group Head Central Region of XL Axiata, Arif Farhan Budiyanto, said, "Firstly, we congratulated the teams from 6 schools in 3 provinces who have made it this far. We also congratulate the team from SMAN 11 Semarang who has fought and won the ticket to the grand final round at Istora Senayan. These are the champions in their respective provinces, who have earned their grand final tickets to Jakarta."
"They are also young talents who have high motivation to achieve achievements. Therefore, we, the management of XL Axiata, are very enthusiastic to facilitate them in pursuing their dreams by organising the largest high school futsal tournament in Indonesia. We hope to contribute in spurring sports achievements among students, while strengthening AXIS brand positioning in the youth segment," Arif further explained.
The futsal tournament in this regional round applies a group tournament system. The winners of the preliminary round in each province in West Java, Central Java and Yogyakarta compete to represent the city level in the regional round which takes place in Cirebon, on 9 September 2023. The winners of these regional rounds will directly compete to represent the regional 3 provinces in the grand final round. In the grand final, a total of 10 teams will compete for the AXIS Nation Cup 2023 championship, which will take place at Istora Senayan, Jakarta, on 15 October 2023. The six school teams that won in their respective cities are entitled to a prize of IDR 6,000,000 as preliminary round winners.
Not only can they take part in the futsal tournament, each school also has the opportunity to take part in three other competitions to represent their school in this event, namely the dance competition, supporter competition and OSIS Competition. All participants from each school who have been selected as participants in these three competitions will be selected and the six best teams will be determined from the three competitions. The winners of the dance competition, supporter competition and OSIS Competition are entitled to win prizes of millions of rupiah, trophies and certificates.
Nationally, the 2023 AXIS Nation Cup futsal tournament was attended by 1,200 schools from 30 cities throughout Indonesia. The tournament winners will receive a total prize of IDR 270 million. Apart from cash prizes, there is also a prize in the form of the opportunity to take part in a camp program at one of the well-known football clubs for the five best players in this event.