The richest sportsman on the planet isn’t Floyd Mayweather, LeBron James, Lionel Messi or Roger Federer, but Michael Bambang Hartono, a 78-year-old from the small town of Kudus, in Central Java, Indonesia. His jab’s weak, he surely can’t dunk, and his backhand likely sucks, but he’s a crack lobbyist and he plays a mean hand of bridge. These two talents go together. In 2016, after years of effort, Hartono persuaded the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to include bridge as a competitive event at the 2018 Asian Games. Last month, he took part in the contest himself, as a member of Indonesia’s supermixed team, and won a bronze medal.
Related: Not the real deal: EU court rejects claim that bridge is a sport
Written by Andy Bull
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2018/sep/18/olympics-bridge-esports-asian-games under the title “Olympics unlikely to be bridge too far for eSports if the money is right | Andy Bull”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
