The national wushu team were looking to end the year on a high and have surely done so.

According to one of the national wushu exponents, Lee YingShi, the team have amassed a total of six gold, three silver and four bronze medals at the ASEAN-China Wushu Festival in Nanning, China.

The good result in China would definitely be of some comfort for the team especially that they were the closest to a gold medal among the various Brunei sides at the recently-concluded Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Jakarta last month.

The duo of Faustina Woo Wai Sii and Lee finished the duilian (duo sparring with broadsword and spear) event just 0.01 points behind gold medallist Singapore, who also beat them to gold in Laos two years ago, at the biennial event. The wushu squad returned home from Indonesia with one silver and one bronze.

The national wushu coach Li Hui believes that Brunei's standard is not far off despite having only been in the sport for four years compared to Singapore, who have been practising wushu for some 17 years.

But, for the meet in China, he had not set a specific target on the medals but was hoping that the new faces on the squad would be able to gain more exposure and experience from the tournament to prepare for future tournaments.

The Wushu Federation of Brunei Darussalam (WFBD) sent eight athletes Lee, Woo, Karyn Ho Chia Yin, Dk Nur Wardina Pg Hj Aji and trio of brothers Md Sufi Shayiran, Mohammad Adi Sya'rani and Mohammad Adi Salihan Roslan to compete at the Dec 15-18 competition. The team will return to the Sultanate today.

Courtesy from Brunei Times