Brunei Darussalam’s wushu athletes and coaches in a group photo. PHOTO: BRUNEI WUSHU FEDERATION
Brunei Darussalam reached new heights in the global wushu scene after the duo of Lim Wei Yuan and Majdurano Joel bin Majalah Sain bagged a historic silver in the men’s sparring event at the 16th World Wushu Championships in Fort Worth, United States.
The pair’s exploits represents the country’s second medal in the world meet following the bronze won by Basma Lachkar in the women’s taijiquan event.
In the men’s sparring event, Brunei accumulated a total of 9.613 points, running the eventual winners and gold medallists Philippines close who recorded a total of 9.616 points.
Spain completed the podium in bronze with a haul of 9.433 points.
National Coach Li Hui shared that the Brunei pair won a lot of admirers as the entire audience roared into applause in response to their thrilling performance.
He said, “As a coach, I am very proud of the athletes! The hard work of our coaches and athletes is finally paying off on the field.”
He added, “Our Brunei wushu team won the bronze medal of Tai Chi in this World Championship. Majdurano Joel and Lim Wei Yuan won the silver medal in men’s duet training.”
Other notable finishes also include a fourth place for national male athlete Li Han in the men’s nandao and fifth place in the men’s nangun, while Walid Lachkar ended fourth in the men’s gunshu and eighth place in men’s daoshu.
The women athletes also fared commendably with Lin Yuxuan finishing seventh in the women’s Tai Chi, while Huang Zhengyu took eighth place in the men’s Tai Chi.
These athletes selected by the Brunei team in this competition also ensured entry respectively in the World Wushu Championships to be held in Japan next year.
Li Hui highlighted that the athletes have won praise and admiration from referees and coaches from across the world.
The national coach has also refused to rest on their laurels and vowed to work hard again to accomplish their next goal.
He said, “I also tell my team members that ‘on the podium, everything becomes the past, walk off the podium everything starts from zero. We have to prepare for the next goal’.
“I also teach athletes to have a sense of national honour and mission.”
He called the need to work hard and warned not to get arrogant despite their impressive results in the Asian Games and World Championships.
Li Hui concluded that his next plans include summing up the experience of the competition; find shortcomings that need improvement; continue to work hard; and continue making contributions to the country.
