UNAIR NEWS – Student Activity Unit of Pencak Silat Setia Hati Terate (UKM PSHT) Universitas Airlangga once again carried out a record of achievements in Java Pencak Silat championship IAIN CUP 2019. The competition which took place on January 14-18 at Institut Agama Islam Negeri (IAIN) Tulungagung and succeeded in delivering four UNAIR srikandi to win the championship medal. They were Devy Nadia as first place winner in women class E; Ardhiyeni Hesti as first place winner in women’s tunggal (single) seni competition; Erika Nur Azizah and Zakiyatul Miskiyah as first place winner in women’s ganda (double) seni competition.
Vendrik, manager of UNAIR PSHT team said the delegates had to set aside competitors from ten universities across Java. Among them are Universitas Jember, Universitas Surabaya, Universitas Negeri Malang, IAIN Kediri, IAIN Jember, IAIN Tulungagung, Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang, UIN Malang, UIN Surabaya, dan Unigoro.
“The hardest experience was when we have to compete with representatives from each city or branch or commonly called puslatcab,” said Vendrik.
Ardhyeni Hesti, gold medalist winner in women’s tunggal (single) seni competition revealed that one of the keys to be successful is practice. Before the match, she and her friends had done intensive training in order to be the best on D-day. She even experienced pain due to injury while doing exercise. Moreover, Hesti still gave her best effort for her alma mater.
“My main motivation is to make my parents and UNAIR proud. Secondly, pencak silat is an authentic Indonesian culture that we must preserve. Third because I like sports and as a woman I want to protect myself, “she explained.
Hesti’s hard work and prayers were finally answered when her name was called as the first winner of women’s tunggal (single) seni competition.
“Thank God. Even though at that time my condition dropped again and saw my opponent performed well at the event but all of my prayers and efforts were granted. Even though I was relatively new and only entered PSHT UNAIR team this year, I’m so grateful that immediately I got gold medal” said the girl from Madiun.
In the future, she hopes to get more opportunity in participating various martial arts competitions, especially pencak silat. Her biggest dream is represent UNAIR on international martial arts championship.
“There will be no champions without preparing it first. Therefore, if we want something then we need to enjoy the process, ” she concluded.
Author: Zanna Afia Deswari
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
