Faustina Woo Wai Sii (L) and
Lee YingShi (R), accompanied
by national wushu coach Li Hui
(C),will be competing at the 8th
Asian Wushu Championships
in Vietnam from August 21-25.
Picture: BT file

Two of the country's most successful wushu exponents left to Vietnam for the 8th Asian Wushu Championships yesterday for their first international tournament of the year.

Aug 21-25 event in Ho Chi Minh City will mark the Sultanate's debut in the competition, where familiar faces Faustina Woo Wai Sii and Lee YingShi will be flying the national flag.

The duo represented Brunei at last year's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Indonesia with Karyn Ho Chia Yin, who was unable to travel to Vietnam due to her studies.

The SEA Games saw the team return with one silver and one bronze medal, but considering the standard in Vietnam, national coach Li Hui doesn't think a podium finish is realistic.

"It's a big tournament. All the top countries in Asia will be there so it'll be hard for us to win a medal," he said at the Brunei International Airport yesterday.

"What I want is for them to give it their best and gain experience.

"Our main targets are the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar and the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea," added the Chinese national.

Having already competed in the previous two editions of the SEA Games, and the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, it is understandable that Li wants Woo and Lee to keep their sights set on Naypyidaw and Incheon.

Once again, Woo and Lee will look to impress in the duilian (duo sparring with broadsword and spear) event, a discipline that has reaped them repeated success over the past few years.

Woo and Lee were agonisingly close to winning a duilian gold at the 2011 SEA Games, their score of 9.70 points just 0.01 points off Singapore who claimed top honours in Jakarta with 9.71.

The duo also came in second-best to Singapore in the same event at the 2009 SEA Games in Laos, making last year's defeat all the more heart-breaking.

The duilian event has been a sure-fire medal bet of late, evident as Lee and Ho combined to win gold in the event during last August's 6th Asian Junior Wushu Championships in Shanghai, China where Woo was unable to compete since she was over the age limit.

Li can also hope for a strong performance from Woo in the nanquan (southern fist) event, the same discipline she won bronze in at last year's SEA Games.

Woo will also be competing in nangun (southern cudgel) and nandao (southern broad sword) while Lee's only other event is changquan (long fist) all events the duo competed in at the Indonesian capital but failed to finish on the podium.

Wushu Federation of Brunei Darussalam secretary-general Kim Boon Hwa will be leading the five-member delegation which includes team judge Ang Lu Guan.

Courtesy from Brunei Times