Faustina Woo Wai Sii (L) and Lee
YingShi (R) with national coach Li
Hui after winning the gold medal
in the women's duilian (duo
sparring with broadsword and
spear) at the 8th Asian Wushu
Championships in Vietnam on
Saturday. Picture: Courtesy of
Li Hui

The national wushu team have shown that they can compete on the big stage.

The duo of Faustina Woo Wai Sii and Lee YingShi managed the team's best achievement to date after they won the gold medal in the women's duilian (duo sparring with broadsword and spear) at the 8th Asian Wushu Championships in Vietnam on Saturday.

The pair finished the event with 9.59 points narrowly defeating Hong Kong, which had 9.58 points, at the Phu Tho Indoor Sports Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City.

The hosts took the bronze with their tally of 9.56 points in the event of the August 21-25 competition.

It has erased memories of the heartbreak when they 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 which claimed top honours in Jakarta with 9.71.

Prior to the departure Vietnam, Li Hui, the national wushu coach, was not expecting to win any medal.

He was ecstatic that his athletes managed to shine amongst some of the best in the world.

"The athletes have worked very hard and it has paid off. It is very satisfying because this tournament is even bigger than the SEA Games," said Li in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.

"The competition was of a really high standard and we could see that we are all separated by only small margins," he added.

"We are a bit off in the other events because we started out learning the techniques later compared to other countries. But we will continue to train and work hard for future competitions," continued the Chinese national.

Li is focused on preparing for the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar and the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea.

Despite winning the gold medal, Woo was not exactly pleased with her personal performance.

"I'm no satisfied with my performance for the event. I have a feeling that I could have done better," said Woo.

"We were confident from the start but we were surprised to win the gold medal. I didn't manage to win any medals in my other events but I did try my best," she added.

"The standard was really high but I know where I stand. So now I will continue to work harder to get better," continued the 20-year-old.

On the other hand, Lee felt that all the hard work and sacrifices have paid off for them.

"We expected to finish in the top three but never thought we would win the gold. We were really surprised to be announced the winner," said Lee.

"I'm satisfied with the outing especially that we have been working hard all year round. Training has paid off for us," added the 18-year-old.

Lee is expected to cut down on training and concentrate on her studies as it is her 'O' Level year.

"I will train once a week starting from today (Monday) and I'll have to concentrate on my studies first," said Lee.

The team also went on to thank the Department of Youth and Sports as well as the Wushu Federation of Brunei Darussalam (WFBD) for their support.

The five-member delegation, which included WFBD secretary-general Kim Boon Hwa and team judge Ang Lu Guan returned to the Sultanate yesterday.

With a total of 21 countries participating in the tournament, Brunei finished in eighth place.

China were the overall champions followed by Iran while Vietnam completed the top-three countries.

Next on the calendar for the Brunei wushu team is the World Junior Wushu Championships in September.

Courtesy from Brunei Times