At the still young age of 22, Yuan Jodie Hibatullah has written a great story for Indonesia. The student of the University of 17 August 1945 (Untag) Surabaya successfully stood at the highest peak in Southeast Asia after helping the Indonesian National Team win the gold medal in Bangkok, Thailand.
The most prestigious sporting event in Southeast Asia took place on December 13–19, 2025, at the Bangkok Youth Centre (Thai–Japan). This victory is not just a personal achievement, but also a source of pride for the nation and his alma mater.
Indonesia’s journey to gold in the men’s indoor hockey event was not easy. From the group stage, the Red and White team performed convincingly by defeating Singapore 10–0, Thailand 6–2, and the Philippines 17–0. Although they suffered a narrow 4–5 loss to Malaysia, Indonesia rose in the semifinal by defeating Thailand again 6–3.
The final match against Malaysia was also tense. Both teams had to settle for a 4–4 draw until the end of normal time. The champion was finally determined by a shoot-out, where Indonesia remained cool and secured a 2–0 victory. Indonesia emerged as the champion, Malaysia finished in second place, and Thailand won the bronze.
For Yuan, this success feels very special. The final-semester student of the Industrial Engineering study program at Untag Surabaya is one of the athletes who grew and developed from the campus environment. Since elementary school age, the world of sports has been familiar to him. However, his path as a national athlete actually began with a simple decision when he was in junior high school.
At that time, Yuan first got to know the sport of hockey through extracurricular activities at school. Initially, it was just an attempt, but that interest slowly turned into a long-term love and commitment. Among various types of hockey, he found his fit in indoor hockey, a branch that demands speed, technical precision, and team cohesion in a fast-paced game.
“I got to know hockey since junior high school. Initially, I was invited by a friend to join the extracurricular. From there, I became interested because I wanted to try a new sport. It turned out I immediately fell in love, especially since the sense of family in this hockey sport is incredible and the opportunities for achievement are great,” said the athlete from Gresik.
Yuan’s journey is inseparable from the role of the people around him. He acknowledges that friends and coaches became the turning point for his seriousness in pursuing hockey. “The first person to introduce me to hockey was Dede Bima Putra Anugrah, my classmate in junior high school. Then the one who pushed me to be truly serious was Coach Habib Rohim, who is now also an assistant coach for the Indonesian National Team,” he revealed.
The athlete with jersey number 18 began intensive training in January 2016. The early training period was a challenge in itself, especially because he had to adapt to a completely new technique. “The first training was definitely still stiff. The biggest challenge was controlling the ball with a hockey stick, because I had never played a sport like this before,” he said.
That perseverance bore sweet fruit. Before winning the 2025 SEA Games gold, Yuan had collected various achievements, including 1st Place in the Provincial Sports Week (Porprov) Indoor Hockey, 1st Place in the National Championship (Kejurnas), 1st Place in the Pre-National Games (Pra-PON), and 1st Place in the 2025 Thailand Hockey League. That series of achievements led him to the national team level.
Yuan was first called to participate in national team selection and training camp in October 2024. The selection process was strict and drained him physically and mentally. “There are many great players on the team. The toughest training program was running at 5 a.m., it was very draining physically and mentally,” he recalled.
Leading up to the 2025 SEA Games, Yuan underwent a Training Camp (TC) for a total of
