Indonesian Men’s Basketball Team Builds Early Adaptation Ahead of Asian Games

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Indonesian men’s basketball team is using its early arrival in Nagoya, Japan, to adapt to local conditions ahead of the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games, despite facing travel disruptions and severe weather.

The team encountered heavy rain and flooding in Nagoya after changing its travel route because of the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau in Indonesia.

Indonesian Basketball Association (Perbasi) Secretary General Nirmala Dewi said players who had just arrived in Nagoya were even asked to leave their resting area after receiving an emergency warning.

"They had arrived, but they received an emergency warning to evacuate. They had only rested for a short while when they had to leave again because the sirens went off," Nirmala said on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, as quoted by Antara.

The situation was also shown in a post on the official Tim Indonesia social media account, which shared a video recorded by men's basketball player Derrick Michael showing the athletes during the evacuation in Nagoya.

In his social media post, Derrick said the disaster warning came only two hours after the team arrived in Nagoya following a 40-hour journey from Jakarta caused by a route change due to the Mount Anak Krakatau eruption.

"We actually did not expect something like this to happen. We had initially prepared to leave together from Soekarno-Hatta. So, the players needed extra preparation because they had to travel to Surabaya first," she said.

From Surabaya, the delegation continued its flight to Singapore before traveling onward to Japan. Upon arriving in Nagoya, the athletes had to adjust once again to the local weather conditions.

Despite the travel difficulties and weather conditions, Nirmala hopes they will not significantly affect the team’s preparations, as the squad was deliberately sent to Japan early.

"We sent them earlier specifically so they could adjust to the weather and conditions there and also train so they could start getting used to the environment," she added.

Indonesian men’s basketball team is scheduled to begin its campaign on September 10. Nirmala is optimistic that the athletes can adapt quickly because they are accustomed to traveling to different countries for training and competitions.

"The players are used to moving between countries, training, and competing. Hopefully, there will not be too many difficulties there, especially when it comes to adaptation," she concluded. ***