UMM Pencak Silat Team Wins Third Place at 2nd International Indonesian Pencak Silat Open Championship 2024 (Photo : Special) |
The white campus of Muhammadiyah Malang University (UMM) continues to commit to shaping outstanding generations. Being outstanding means excelling in various fields, both academic and non-academic. Recently, the UMM pencak silat team won third place at the 2nd International Indonesian Pencak Silat Open Championship 2024. The event, organized by the Persekutuan Pencak Silat Antarabangsa (Persilat) and Pengurus Besar Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia (PB IPSI), took place at the Padepokan Pencak Silat Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) from July 12-16. The championship featured participants from seven countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei Darussalam, and the United States.
The UMM athletes included Muhammad Miqdad, a student of the Communication Science program (Ikom), Wisnu Wardhana, a student of the Government Science program (IP), and Luthfanda Gibran Pamungkas. They secured third place in the Men’s Adult Artistic Team category.
Muhammad Miqdad, one of the team members, expressed his joy and happiness upon winning. “I’m definitely happy and thrilled, especially since this is an international championship with participants from abroad. The challenge is certainly mental, and strengthening mental resilience for international competitions is a must. The euphoria is very different from national competitions,” he said.
Miqdad, who is also known by his nickname, further revealed that he and his teammates had been preparing for a long time. Given that the category they competed in was artistic team, they needed to have excellent coordination and cohesion during their performance.
“We needed a long preparation time, around eight months before the championship. We practiced one to three times a day. It might seem impossible to train that much every day, but that was the reality because we were up against national and international athletes,” he explained.
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Interestingly, the UMM pencak silat athletes were fully funded by the university for the championship. This included transportation, accommodation, meals, and all other needs during the competition. This support was a significant factor in Miqdad and his team’s focus and dedication.
“Alhamdulillah, all our needs were covered by UMM, which also contributed to our ability to stay focused. I would advise other students and athletes at UMM to never get tired of training. Don’t hesitate to communicate with the campus, especially the student affairs office. They will fully support you,” he concluded.(faq/wil/fajr)