PURWOKERTO, Suara Muhammadiyah – The Muhammadiyah University of Purwokerto (UMP) karate team achieved brilliant feats by winning second place at the Magelang I International Karate Championship 2023. This competition was attended by several countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia and India, and was held at GOR Samapta, Magelang City on 15-16 September 2023.

This match featured participants from 53 contingents consisting of 919 athletes, included in the Magelang International Open Karate Championship class, which includes the individual class, team class and festival class. The UMP Karate team won second place by collecting 7 gold medals, 8 silver medals and 1 bronze medal.

UMP Karate UKM Advisor Muchammad Rizal Affandy, SE, said the UMP has set targets for students’ success in karate competitions not only at the regional level, but also at the national and international levels.

“We are very grateful to be in second position among several countries participating in the Magelang competition. Our university has set goals for student success at the national or international level, not just at the regional level,” he said on Tuesday in an interview. (10/31/2023).

Rizal also conveyed the hopes and goals of the UKM Karate UMP, as well as important messages to the students.

“UKM Karate UMP’s closest goal is to achieve feats in the POMNAS event and win a gold medal. Apart from that, for students, martial arts sports are not not only physical activities, but also constitute an important part of maintaining health, both physically and mentally,” he added.

UMP Karate UKM President and Senior Men’s Kumite Champion Obit Bagus Anugrah expressed his pride in the karate team’s achievements in international competitions and his hopes for even greater achievements in the future.

“We are very proud of the achievements we have made in this international karate championship. We hope that the UMP karate team can achieve even more brilliant achievements, especially in other international competitions,” he said . (qbi/tgr)