Umar keeps the faith for winning form

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."