An Indonesian team of junior high school students stole the show at the India International Mathematics Competition (InIMC) in Lucknow, India, on July 25-31.

“We brought these students to participate in this math competition so that they are able to gain more experiences as well as greater insight by looking at the outside world,” president director of MIPA Education Clinic (KPM) Ridwan Hasan Saputra on Monday according to tempo.co.

For this competition, Indonesia sent 28 talented students to compete against teams from 26 other participating countries, including teams from the host country, India. The other students came from countries across the world, such as South Africa, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Romania, Singapore , Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

Of the seven teams that Indonesia sent, four were teams of elementary school students, while the other three where teams of junior high school students.

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After the week-long tournament, Team A of the junior high school team was able to come home as champions. Meanwhile, Team B of the junior high school students, as well as the elementary school team, achieved the 2nd runner up position in their respective categories.

Ridwan notes that the competition is not easy, and as such he is very proud that these Indonesian students were able to come out on top. 

“The types of problems that are asked in this competition is very difficult, especially inequalities,” said Farrel Dwireswara Salim, a silver medal recipient competing in the junior high school category, as he recounts competing against students from various countries.

“It turns out that students from Indonesian schools are able to make achievements at an international level,” Luthfi Bima Putra, a gold medalist, said. (tha/kes)