Tuesday (26/10) the UGM Psychology Faculty Public Relations team interviewed I Gusti Agung Dyah Cahyaninggrat, a seventh semester student of the UGM Faculty of Psychology who this year also competed in the Pekan Olahraga Nasional (PON) XX Papua. Cahya represented Bali Province at this year’s PON event in the Judo martial arts sport.
Cahya is one of two UGM Psychology Faculty students competing in PON XX Papua 2021. Together with Aliffa Milanisty in Karate, Cahya also feels the atmosphere of this four-year competition that brings together the best athletes in Indonesia.
Cahya has been involved in Judo since the 3rd grade of elementary school. He knew Judo from his cousin. Cahya also received full support from his family when his parents enrolled him in a Judo club in Denpasar.
“Because when I was little, I was really naughty. Continue to often play outside the house with friends. Keep coming home and often get injured because of playing outside, right? Then come home with injuries that fall off the bike, fall on the road or something, that’s why my parents were probably worried too, right, so I was finally enrolled in Judo,” said Cahya, recalling his early childhood introduction to Judo.
Judo has become a part of Cahya’s daily life. The hard training and the bruises she got after training didn’t stop her from practicing. Several times her had stopped practicing after an injury but in the end she returned to practice again, now Cahya already holds a black belt in Dan One Judo.
Several competitions, local, national and international championships, have been carried out by Cahya. In participating in these competitions, Cahya often gets medals and rises to the championship podium. Several international Judo competitions she has participated in are in Singapore and Malaysia.
His participation in PON XX Papua this year is one of Cahya’s best achievements during his career as a professional judo athlete. This year the athletes participating in PON are only selected from the top eight national best in each sport that is competed.
“To achieve this year’s PON, it must be from the rankings. So the results of yesterday’s champions were collected for four years. So, only the top eight can participate in this PON,” explained Cahya.
To regulate the pattern of life in the middle as a psychology student at the Faculty of Psychology UGM as well as a professional Judo athlete, Cahya first realized that life in college was very different from that in high school. If at SMA Cahya can rely on her friends to catch up with subject matter when she gets dispensation when competing, then in lecture Cahya must be more independent and have her own motivation to catch up with her academics.
“In college, it’s because I was also accepted through the PBU route, so I have the intention to make Universitas Gadjah Mada proud through my achievements,” said Cahya while explaining that she also has a written schedule to manage the flow of her daily activities.
When competing in PON XX Papua, Cahya met tough athletes who were much older than her. Although she has not been able to present a medal because she lost to athletes from East Java, West Java and DKI Jakarta, Cahya still displays her best performance. It was proven in the first appearance that Cahya managed to beat the host contingent Papua.
“The legend in the 48 kg class is that these three people are from East Java, West Java, and DKI,” said Cahya.
When asked about a judo career after college, Cahya initially seemed to have thought about ending her career after the PON XX Papua. But after participating in the match until the end, Cahya’s enthusiasm and optimism to welcome the next PON event grew. The experience she gained in this year’s PON and also the competing opponents which of course kept changing because there was an athlete’s age restriction would make her chances of getting a podium at the next PON even greater.
“Now maybe it’s not my turn to be the champion, but I think I can do it in four years,” said Cahya with an optimistic smile.