Jakarta, October 16th 2023. The biggest inter-high school futsal tournament in Indonesia, AXIS Nation Cup 2023 has its champion, SMAN 8 Makassar, South Sulawesi. In the final round on Sunday (15/10) at Istora Senayan, Jakarta, they beat SMK Nusantara West Jakarta with a score of 6-1. For their achievement, SMAN 8 Makassar team won a prize of IDR 75 million. Director & Chief Enterprise Business & Corporate Affairs Officer of XL Axiata, Yessie D. Yosetya handed over trophies and prizes to the champions in a very lively celebration.
Director & Chief Enterprise Business & Corporate Affairs Officer of XL Axiata, Yessie D. Yosetya said, "AXIS Nation Cup 2023 has just ended, and we are grateful and thankful for the extraordinary enthusiasm and participation of the tournament participants from high schools throughout Indonesia. AXIS Nation Cup competition is one of XL Axiata's initiatives to support the government in fostering Indonesia's future generations who can compete and collaborate through team play, uphold the rules and sportivity through fair play, and can enjoy the moment through fun games. This also confirms XL Axiata's commitment through AXIS to continue to understand the needs of the youth customer segment so that it can provide the best experience and continue to innovate to provide services and experiences that suit their needs and interests.
Chief Marketing Officer of XL Axiata, Alfons Bosch Sansa added, "After more than a month of AXIS Nation Cup being held in various cities in Indonesia, we finally have the champion. Congratulations to SMAN 8 Makassar for being the best with an outstanding performance. XL Axiata's goal of holding this program is very successful, where we can showcase high school futsal teams that are full of talent. Hopefully, their potential can continue to be developed, and achievements can be improved so that they can bring the name of the school, the name of the region, and eventually also be part of the Indonesian national team."
Here are the best teams in the AXIS Nation Cup 2023:
First Place : SMAN 8 Makassar
Second Place : SMK Nusantara Jakarta Barat
Third Place : SMAN 11 Semarang
Vice Principal of Student Affairs of SMAN 8 Makassar and Futsal Extracurricular Coach, Aco Pasenrengi, S.Pd, M.Pd said, "We are very happy with the success of bringing AXIS Nation Cup 2023 championship trophy to Makassar. Once again it is proven that hard work never betrays results, this is the result of our hard work so far, there is no student Futsal tournament as glamorous and as big as the AXIS Nation Cup. Hopefully next year we will be back at Istora Senayan, Jakarta with the AXIS Nation Cup 2024 with an amazing game. All of us at SMAN 8 MAKASSAR would like to thank everyone for their prayers and apologise if we made any mistakes during the competition. Always be victorious for XL Axiata, the pioneer of Indonesian youth creativity".
Here are the 10 teams competing in the Grand Final:
SMAN 8 Makassar's journey to the championship was not easy. Starting from the preliminary round held on 1 to 3 September 2023, the team captained by Muh Rafly had to first set aside around 40 schools in the Makassar area and its surroundings. Furthermore, in the Sulawesi Regional final round held in Makassar on 23 September 2023, this champion team defeated 3 best teams for the Sulawesi region, namely from Gorontalo, Manado and Palu.
The AXIS Nation Cup 2023 Grand Final event was also enlivened with music performances by JKT48 and Diskoria. In addition to that and Fun Match matches from influencers between Shafira Ika Putri (National Team) and Aganta VS Vonny Felicia and Ciccio Manassero (Actors) teams. In the grand final round, SMAN 8 Makassar representing the Sulawesi Region won the championship after defeating 10 other school teams from several cities in Indonesia and was entitled to a prize of IDR 75,000,000. Meanwhile, SMK Nusantara West Jakarta became the second winner with a prize of IDR 50,000,000 and SMAN 11 Semarang became the third winner with a prize of IDR 15,000,000.
Involving more than 1,200 schools with more than 12,000 athletes from 30 cities across Indonesia, AXIS Nation Cup 2023 also received widespread attention from the public, especially young people. More than 100 thousand visitors watched throughout the preliminary rounds in six regions that took place in Serang, Tangerang, Bogor, Bekasi, Jakarta, Bandung, Cirebon, Yogyakarta, Purwokerto, Semarang, Solo, Denpasar, Surabaya, Malang, Mataram, Aceh, Medan, Palembang, Padang, Jambi, Pekanbaru, Lampung, Pontianak, Balikpapan, Samarinda, Banjarmasin, Manado, Gorontalo, Palu and Makassar.