The state athletes and officials celebrate their achievements at the end of the national wushu meet with WFS deputy president James Ting (sixth left), Tiong (seventh right) and Yoong (left).
KUCHING: Sarawak ended their campaign in the 26th National Wushu Championships at Tunku Abdul Rahman College on Sunday with seven gold, six silver and 10 bronze medals.
Team manager Tiong Yong Hee regarded this as a commendable result considering that the state did not field a full team to the annual event.
“I am satisfied with the performance of all our athletes who almost won at least a medal each.
“We were one of the smaller teams and mainly focused on giving exposure to our Sukma XIX shadow team and we did not take part in sanda events,” he told The Borneo Post.
According to Tiong, one of the objectives of participating in the championship was to observe how the sanda competition was conducted.
“It has been confirmed that sanda has been included in Sukma 2018 in Perak. Only three categories will be competed – men’s 56kg, 60kg and 70kg,” he said.
Tiong said Wushu Federation of Sarawak (WFS) will be conducting sanda competitions in the state in the move to select potential athletes for the Sarawak Sukma team.
“I hope the State government will continue to support WFS in the move to promote sanda in the state especially in schools,” he added.
Bong Yun En was the best performer of the state team as she bagged two gold medals in the traditional Yang style taijijian and Yang style taijijian.
Other golds won in the traditional events were delivered by Landy Liew in the 42-style taijijian, Johan Wong in the 42-style taijijian and Yong Arifah Khairul Kok in the Wu style taijiquan, with due credit to state head coach Yoong Thong Foong.
State Sukma athlete Elvic Bong Qian Zheng won the gold in taolu qiangshu and a bronze in taolu changquan while the other gold came from Su Chung Ung in the men’s tuishou (push hand) 90kg.
The silver medallists were Yong Arifah Khairul Kok (taolu taijiquan), Stephanie Ngu Cai Ern (taolu changquan, taolu qiangshu), Muhammad Asri Abdul Wahab (taolu taijijian, Wu style taijiquan) and Lee Cau Peng (taolu gunshu).
Contributors of the bronze medals were Landy Liew Jia Yee (42 style taijiquan), Johan Wong Wei Xiang (Wu style taijiquan), Mandy Lim Xin Hui (taolu nandao, talu nandao), Yong Arifah Khairul Kok (taolu taijijian), Muhammad Asri Abdul Wahab (taolu taijiquan), Stephanie Ngu (taolu qiangshu), Anthony Lee Wen Ming (men’s tuishou 75kg) and Kon Chee Kiong (men’s tuishou 80kg).
All the medallists were rewarded with cash incentives from the team manager during the dinner on Sunday.
The championship was organised by Wushu Federation of Malaysia and hosted by the Penang Wushu Association.
The competition was staged for the first time ever outside an indoor stadium, causing much discomfort to the athletes, officials and spectators.