Lee (sixth left) hands over the state flag to team manager Allen Wong (seventh right) while WFS deputy president Ting (seventh left), coach Ling (third right) and the athletes look on.
KUCHING: The Wushu Federation of Sarawak (WFS) is sending a team of eight athletes to Henan, China, for a one-month exposure and training stint from July 26 to Aug 26.
The team comprises male athletes Elvic Bong Qian Zheng, Clement Thian Fung Seng, Clement Ting Su Wei, Lawrence Loi Ming Xian and Chiew Sow Hong, while the female athletes include Yong Arifah Khairul Kok, Fu Wen Jie and Lee Hui Xian.
Accompanying them are team manager Allen Wong Siew Poh, MSNS head coach Yang NianWu and his assistant Lau Hui Wei.
WFS deputy president James Ting said the trip is one of two exposure stints for the state’s potential medallists for Sukma XVIII hosted by Sarawak next year.
“Based on our experience, the best place to send our athletes for exposure-training is China because firstly, it is the world’s wushu powerhouse and secondly, all our foreign coaches including from other states come from China,” he said.
Ting said the exposure was part of WFS’ preparation for Sukma XVIII and wushu was one of the eight core sports expected to contribute a major portion of gold medals for the Sarawak contingent in Sukma XVIII.
Ting said while in China, the state athletes will train and spar with the Henan state wushu team and cheorograph their ‘taolu’ routines.
This stint serves a double purpose as WFS are looking for another calibre foreign coach from China who specialises in taijiquan and taijijian.
In a simple ceremony at the Wushu Elite Training Centre at Sentosa Sports Centre in Jalan Stakan, Kota Sentosa, on
Thursday night, Assistant Sports Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin presented the state colours to Allen Wong.
Also present were Ting and MSNS centre of excellence for wushu coach Ling Ung Hee.
Lee, also Assistant Minister of Communication, urged the eight athletes to give their very best and go for gold in Sukma XVIII.
They were also advised to take good care of their health and avoid injuries in training.