UIR students have once again achieved success, one of which is a non-academic achievement in the field of sports. Geofanny and Maulana, students of FIKOM and FAI, won Gold at the Riau Provincial Championship (Kejurprov) in the sport of Petanque in the Double Man category representing Rokan Hulu district. The championship held at the Petanque Venue of the Universitas Islam Riau from July 15 to July 17, 2022.
During interview with the UIR Public Relations Team, Geofanny, a Communication Science Program at UIR and one of the Gold Medalists at the 2022 Petanque Provincial Championship, confidently expressed his joy at winning the competition.
“Alhamdulillah, I am very grateful and actually did not initially expect to win a gold medal, because this is the first time I have participated in a competition in the sport of Petanque,” said Geofanny.
The student, currently in his sixth semester, also stated that his preparation for the provincial championship was thorough and had been underway for several months prior to the competition.
“As this is my first time participating in the Petanque championship, I have been mentally and physically preparing for this competition for a long time. For mental preparation, Insyaallah, I am already used to it because I am also active in Sepak Takraw sports and have competed up to the POPDA level, maybe that also adds to my boost to be more confident in this competition,” he said.
It should be noted that Petanque is a new sport in Indonesia. It was introduced in the early 2000s by French expatriates and was initially only played by a limited circle. Only in 2011, when Indonesia hosted the Sea Games, that this sport became mandatory in every regional and national championship. The organization that oversees this sport is FOPI (Federation of Petanque Sports Indonesia), which was established in March 2011.
When asked about his motivation to be interested in exploring the sport of Petanque, Geofanny said that Petanque is a new developing sport in Indonesia, he finds it intriguing and wants to learn more about it..
“Given that this is a new sport and the venue is on our campus, it would be a waste not to explore it and utilize the available facilities,” he said.
Next, the focus of the student from Rambah Hilir Village and his colleague Maulana are currently focusing on physical preparation and extra training for the upcoming Provincial Sports Week (POPNAS) in Kuantan Singingi district and athlete selection representing Riau province for the National Student Sports Week (POMNAS) in West Sumatra.
“As a future petanque athlete representing Rokan Hulu, I hope to receive centralized training to better prepare for competitions. It would be beneficial to have access to proper training facilities and equipment, such as training fields and balls, to increase enthusiasm and optimize our performance. Additionally, health facilities should be provided to ensure optimal fitness during competitions. Furthermore, we hope that DISPORA and UIR can collaborate to better support UIR students who are also athletes and achieve success,” he concluded (kh/khk).
