Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES) once again showed its achievements in the international arena by winning a Bronze medal and the Best Fair Play Team award in the 2024 Asian Pacific Walking Football event. This time, the achievement was achieved by Dr. Siti Baitul Mukarromah, S.Si., M.Si.Med, a Faculty of Sports Sciences (FIK) lecturer, represented Indonesia as a female athlete in the 40+ category.
Asian Pacific Walking Football 2024 will be held on August 23-26, 2024, at Sam Kerr Football Stadium, Perth, Australia.
The Association of Walking Football Australia Inc. organized the competition, which was attended by teams representing various Asian Pacific countries, including Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The categories contested include Women 40+ and 50+, Men 50+, 60+, and 70+, and the Mixed category.
The athlete selection process is carried out in stages in each province before being submitted to the center to be designated as the Indonesia National Walking Football Team. Central Java Province managed to pass three athletes, while Makassar and Jakarta sent two and one athlete, respectively.
Siti Baitul Mukarromah (UNNES) and Sri Mardiyati (University of Muhammadiyah Makassar) represented the Central Java team in the 40+ and Mixed categories. Meanwhile, for the Men’s 50+ and Mixed categories, Indonesia was represented by Hendra Hartono Turman, Joko Pranowo Adi, Kusriyanto, and Mohammad Natsir.
The Indonesia team will also prepare for the Asian Pacific Walking Football Cup in Malaysia in 2025 and Indonesia as the host in 2026.
The success achieved by Dr. Siti in winning the Bronze medal and the Best Fair Play Team award is expected to boost the enthusiasm of other academics at UNNES to excel in other non-academic fields.