National wushu exponents in
action. The youngest member
of the Brunei squad in China,
Dk Nur Wardina Pg Hj Aji.
Pictures: BT/ Li Hui

The future looks bright for the national wushu team.

The Wushu Federation of Brunei Darussalam (WFBD) sent eight athletes to compete at the ASEAN-China Wushu Festival in Nanning, China, and they did the country proud returning with a medal haul of six gold, four silver and three bronze yesterday.

Faustina Woo Wai Sii was the biggest winner for the Sultanate, bagging gold medals in both the nanquan (southern first) and nandao (southern broad sword) events.

She then partnered Lee YingShi to clinch another gold in the duilian (duo sparring with broadsword and spear) event.

Lee also added a silver medal in the changquan (long fist) event.

Another exponent who had a successful campaign at the Dec 15-18 competition was Ang Guat Lian. She returned home with two gold medals from taijijian (Taiji double-edged sword) and taijiquan (Taiji fist).

The other gold medal was courtesy of Md Sufi Shayiran Roslan, who won the nanquan (southern fist) event. He also won silver from nandao.

His brother Mohd Adi Sya'rani brought home a silver medal from the changquan event.

The youngest member of the squad, Dk Nur Wardina Pg Hj Aji at nine years old, made an impressive debut winning a silver in changquan and a bronze in qiangshu (spear) events.

Last but not least, Karyn Ho Chia Yin rounded up the tally with her haul of two bronze medals from changquan and jianshu (swordplay).

The other Bruneian in action at the meet was Mohammad Adi Salihan Roslan.

According to the national wushu coach, Li Hui, the tournament was perfect for the development of his athletes.

There were new faces on the squad and he had included them for exposure.

Only Vietnam sent their full Southeast Asian (SEA) Games squad to China while other countries such as the Philippines, Singapore, Laos and Thailand sent their junior sides.

"This competition was really good for the young ones. It provided good experience and exposure to prepare them for the future," said Li during an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday upon arrival at the Brunei International Airport in Berakas.

"I saw the standard of the other teams and I feel that we are on the same level. The young ones have progressed quickly," added the Chinese national.

On what was next for the team, Li replied: "We will rest for a day and go back to training. We are not going to waste any time and are preparing ourselves for the next SEA Games in Myanmar starting now."

The coach knows that they will have to work hard after the duo of Woo and Lee came tantalisingly close to winning the gold at the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia last month. There finished just 0.01 points behind gold medallists Singapore, who also beat them to gold in Laos two years ago, in the duilian event in Jakarta.

The China competition allowed them to end their year on a high and it wraps up a pretty good year for the national wushu team.

Courtesy from Brunei Times