Umar keeps the faith for winning form

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Mandaue City, Cebu, the Philippines

Umar Syarief, who bagged his second gold medal of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games on Monday, has a tried and trusted friend accompanying him.

While other athletes tote mascots onto the podium, the karate star brought along his Koran.

"I always have a Koran at my side when I compete. From my first participation in the 1997 SEA Games, I have brought along the Koran because I believe God will give me the strength to win," he said after his dramatic victory in the men's individual kumite 75 kg class.

He credited his faith for helping him in his down-to-the-wire 7-6 triumph over Malaysian Jarvis Anak Julian.

Umar said an old right knee injury flared up in the final, but the pain went away after he prayed to himself.

The Games in Cebu -- where most of the martial arts events are being held -- are not over yet for Umar, who was also part of the kumite team that contributed a gold by overcoming Malaysia on Sunday.

"Well, I have one more task, to defend my gold in the open weight division," he said. "I hope God will give me the strength to win."

Since the 1997 Games in Jakarta, Umar has been counted upon to collect medals in the regional sporting event. He won gold that year, followed by a silver two years later and a bronze at the 2001 Games in Malaysia.

After a slump, he bounced back at the 2003 Games by taking the open class event. The same year, he also won the Asian Karate Federation championships.

Although the karate team's showing in international events was mediocre this year, Umar was a standout, becoming the first Indonesian to win the European Master Cup this year. He finished sixth in the World Cup and also competed in the World Games, the international event held for non-Olympic sports.

National team manager Madju Dharyanto said Umar's never-say- die attitude should be followed by others.

"He looked very tired, but he has a champion's mentality. Umar was never down although his opponent got points after the referee penalized him," he said.

"This is something that must be followed by his juniors."

Umar, who is employed by the mayor's office in his hometown of Surabaya, is married to former top Malaysian karateka Ai Lee.

With Ai based in Switzerland, Umar is considering making his training base in Europe.

"Perhaps I will prefer to train in Germany, because we know people there after our recent training session there. And training there will be very beneficial in allowing me to compete in tournaments more often."

Umar still has another goal to achieve before he retires.

"I didn't compete in the Busan Asian Games in 2002 because I was going through a bad period at the time," he said. "But now I want to complete my titles with an Asian Games gold medal."