TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian junior karate athlete Akio Saiko won a gold medal at the 2024 World Karate Youth League in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

"Our junior karateka Akio Saiko won gold after defeating the representative from Venezuela," said National Karate-Do Institute (Inkanas) Karate Coach Umar Syarief via telephone from Jakarta, Sunday.

He explained that the 2024 World Karate Youth League, which took place from 22nd to 25th February, was a very prestigious event which was attended by more than 2,000 athletes from various countries in the world.

In that competition, Akio Saiko, who appeared in the men's category, showed brilliant abilities when he fought eight times and in the final fight was able to defeat the representative from Venezuela to win the gold medal.

Meanwhile, Indonesian karateka Sifa Salsabila bagged a bronze medal in the women's category in the international competition. "We are of course very grateful that we can get two medals in this very prestigious competition," said Umar Syarief.

Umar Syarief said that winning this medal was a very valuable achievement experience for the athletes in measuring their karate abilities and recording rankings and flying hours.

He said that the number of Indonesian karateka sent to take part in the competition was eight people, five people were sent through Inkanas' own initiative and three people from the Indonesian Karate-Do Sports Federation (Forki).

It is hoped that this achievement will motivate other karateka in the country to continue practicing and contribute to their achievements in international class competitions.

Syarief, who has experience as a karateka for around 20 years, hopes that Indonesian karatekas will continue to be given the opportunity to take part in as many competitions as possible at international level.

"Having many matches before becomes a factor which is very important for athletes to be able to achieve many achievements because on the other hand, the frequency of our competitions in Indonesia is still very low compared to for example in Europe," he said.

ANTARA

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