National wushu coach Li Hui (L) watching Lee YingShi during a training session at the Multipurpose Hall of the Menglait Sports Complex in this March 9, 2015 file photo. Li has had to shift his attention to the World Junior Wushu Championships after Lee and Faustina Woo Wai Sii were unable to compete in the Asian Wushu Championships which starts today in Chinese Taipei. Picture: BT file
National wushu exponents Faustina Woo Wai Sii (R) and Lee YingShi will not be in Chinese Taipei this week to defend their Asian Wushu Championships women’s duilian (duo sparring with broadsword and spear) gold medal due to unforeseen circumstances. Picture: BT file
NATIONAL wushu coach Li Hui now has to look forward to the World Junior Wushu Championships after having to skip today’s Asian Wushu Championships.
Li was preparing Brunei’s golden girls — Faustina Woo Wai Sii and Lee YingShi — for the women’s duilian (duo sparring with broadsword and spear) event at the Sept 1-5 competition in Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei, with high hopes that the duo would do well after winning gold in the discipline the last time the Asian meet was contested four years ago.
The multi-titled pair have long considered the women’s duilian their pet event, with their gold medal in the 2011 Asian Wushu Championships their crowning achievement.
However, a change of plans mean Li will now have to shift his attention to the World Junior Wushu Championships in Burgas, Bulgaria, later this month.
Brunei is listed as one of the 38 contestants in the Asian Wushu Championships official website.
Both Li and the Wushu Federation of Brunei Darussalam (WFBD) chose not to disclose why the trip was cancelled.
Forced to focus on the World Junior Wushu Championships instead, Li has shortlisted Mohd Sufi Shayiran Roslan, his younger brother Mohd Adi Salihin and Hosea Wong for the Sept 25-Oct 3 tournament.
Mohd Sufi Shayiran and another younger brother, Mohd Adi Sya’rani, won gold in the men’s duilian event at the last edition of the World Junior Wushu Championships in Antalya, Turkey two years ago.
However, Mohd Adi Sya’rani will not be able to compete this year due to examinations.
“We have been preparing well for this tournament and I hope we will be able to have some new breakthroughs in the individual events,” said Li in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.
“Hopefully we will be able to win medals,” he added.
Both Mohd Sufi Shayiran and Mohd Adi Salihin will compete in the nanquan (southern fist), nandao (southern sword) and nangun (southern staff) events.
Wong, meanwhile, will contest the taijiquan (taiji fist) and taijijian (taiji double-edged sword) events.
The last tournament the wushu team competed in was the 18th Malaysian Games (SUKMA) in Kuching in July, where they were represented by the trio of Mohd Adi Salihin, Wong and Ang Guat Lian. The former was the best performer for the sultanate with a silver medal from the men’s nandao event.
However, no national wushu exponent has been as successful as Woo and Lee — who have a strong record in the women’s duilian after clinching gold in the event at the SEA Games in Myanmar in 2013 after silver medals in the 2011 (Indonesia) and 2009 (Laos) editions.
The pair’s last international outing was last June’s SEA Games in Singapore, where they won bronze.
