UNAIR NEWS – Student Activity Unit (UKM) of Taekwondo Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) made another achievement. This time, the achievement was obtained through the Sleman Regent Cup III National Championship held on 21-22 April in GOR Triadi, Sleman. In that competition, UNAIR delegates managed to bring home 3 gold medals, 4 silver medals, and 1 bronze medal.
Sleman Regent Cup III is a championship organized by Universal Taekwondo Indonesia Professional (UTI Pro) Sleman. In that competition, UNAIR winning athletes included Poomsae team consisting of Devi Himawan (gold), Mitra Teguh (silver), Nindya Athik (bronze), and Kyorugi team consisting of Indah Indriana (silver), Febby Gustami ( silver), Arinda (silver), and Khansa (gold).
The competition was divided into two classes. First, the classes of kyorugi (fighting) grouped by weight. Second, the classes of poomsae (art) classified by age. As this championship is a professional class championship, so to get the gold, silver, and bronze medals, tournament system was used. Athletes who win automatically proceed to the semifinals until the final.
“Before the game we conducted training regularly. In one day the athletes held practices three times, at dawn at 05.00 – 6.30, then they go to their classes, and in the afternoon at 15:00 they practiced again until 17:00 and continued with evening exercise at 19.00 – 22.00 and got evaluation from the coach, “said Indah Indriana, one of the athletes.
In order to maintain the discipline and commitment, for one month before the competition, the athletes were required to follow the exercises. If they are absent, they will not be able to join the competition.
“This is done for a month with the aim to increase physical strength, ability to master the technique properly and correctly, and maintain discipline and commitment,” said Indah.
It requires a strong determination to stay in the exercise. A motivation that is remembered is the motivation of the coach Hidayat S. Akbar who said that the match is not only a matter of physical, but also mental.
“If you stop at just that, then that’s your real mentality. I do not want you to just be a punching bag in the arena. Therefore, you must form your mentality to be a champion mentality. Losing or winning does not matter, but give the best resistance to your opponents. Do not give up so easily, “said the student of the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine (FPK) imitating the words of his coach. (*)
Author: Pradita Desyanti
Editor: Binti Q. Masruroh
