Kwong Leong displaying his gold medal winning nangun skills.
SIBU: Exponents of the Sarawak Dragon Lion Dance and Wushu Association (SDLDWA) capped a fine outing after returning with 17 gold, three silver and one bronze medals at the recent 4th Beijing Wushu Culture cum Kung Fu Exchange Conference held in Beijing.
Sibu Martial Arts (Quanshu) Association (SMAA) sent two exponents – seasoned campaigner Ling Kwong Leong and newcomer Ervin Sim – while Kuching Chinese Martial Arts Association (CMAA) sent three – chief coach Calvin Kong , Wong Sing Yew and Chew Wui Yung.
Both SMAA and CMAA are affiliated to SDLDWA.
Of the five exponents, Kwong Leong, who took part in the championship for the second consecutive year, stood out as he alone garnered six gold medals.
Kwong Leong competed in his pet event, the Men’s 21 & above nanquan, nandao and nangun, the traditional long and short weapon and duilian (dual event).
The surprise gold was in the duilian when he combined with Ervin. They impressed the judges with a strong finish after committing a series of routine mistakes to edge out the strongly favoured pair from China’s Liaoning Province by 0.12 points.
“I must admit the gold from the duilian event is a surprise collection. Nevertheless, the duo still has a lot of homework to do and improve on their formation to ensure that they will not repeat the same mistakes again,” SMAA chief coach Gilbert Wong remarked.
Ervin also won two gold medals in the Boy’s 19 & below nandao and nangun, then a silver medal in nanquan.
In the nandao event, Ervin came from behind to register 8.60 points to pip the exponent from Kazakhstan by 0.15 points.
CMAA chief coach Calvin, on a comeback trail, secured three gold medals in the traditional martial arts, traditional long and short weapon.
Sing Yew, the form one student of SMK Bandar Kuching No. 1 and a taiji specialist, bagged four gold medals and one bronze in 24-form and 42-form taijiquan and taijijian while Chew collected a gold medal in qianshu and two silvers in changquan and jiangshu.
Some 6,000 athletes from around the world attended the international event.
‘It’s not only a good exposure but also keep our athletes in buoyant mood as they learnt about the culture of China,” said Gilbert
Local wushu athletes are now preparing for the 6th Borneo International Martial Arts Championship to be held here from Aug 16-17.