Md Sufi Shayiran Roslan will be the lone representative when Brunei make their debut at the 12th World Wushu Championships in Kuala Lumpur this week.
Initially, the duo of Lee Yingshi and Faustina Woo Wai Sii were set to take part in the duilian (duo sparring with broadsword and spear) event at the Oct 29 - Nov 6 biennial tournament in the Malaysian capital.
However, they were forced to pull out of the competition as Lee had a clash of dates with her examinations.
Lee and Woo are also no strangers to the duilian event having won silver in the discipline during the past two editions of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
They also achieved the sport's best achievement so far with a gold medal in the duilian event at last year's 8th Asian Wushu Championships in Vietnam in August.
National wushu coach Li Hui felt that it was a pity that his charges will be missing from the competition but knows that the show must go on.
"It is unfortunate that we won't compete in the duilian event but we had no choice," said Li on Monday.
"This is the competition of the highest level in wushu and it will be an eye opener for Sufi.
"We know how tough the competition will be and we don't have any expectations.
"I hope that Sufi will gain as much experience as possible and that the exposure is good for him.
"We also want to showcase that Brunei have got good potential when it comes to the sport," continued the Chinese national.
Sufi will participate in nangun (southern staff), nandao (southern sword) and nanquan (southern fist) events.
The 15-year-old, who teamed up with younger brother Mohd Adi Sya'rani to win the country's only silver medal at the 3rd Islamic Solidarity Games in Palembang, Indonesia at the end of September, has been working hard in training but doesn't have high expectations at the meet.
"I don't expect to get any medals because this is a huge tournament but I do hope to finish inside the top-10," said Sufi.
"Training has been good but I know opponents coming from China, Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries will be tough," concluded Sufi, who won bronze in the nangun event during August's 7th Asian Junior Wushu Championships in Manila.
The competition is seen as a tune up for the upcoming SEA Games in Myanmar from Dec 11-22.
