Wushu gaining momentum
WUSHU may not be a mainstream sport in Malaysia but it is in position to do the country proud in next month’s Kuala Lumpur Sea Games.
The sport, however, has a history of bias judging and Malaysia were robbed of gold medals in previous editions.
The 2005 Manila edition will go down in history as the most one sided affair in wushu. The hosts dominated and won 12 gold from 22 events.
Ho Ro Bin, who was then the Asian and world champion in nanquan, was denied a gold by Pedro Quina which led to outrage.
In the last three Sea Games, the host country won the overall title in controversial manner in some events at the 2011 (Jakarta), 2013 (Naypyitaw) and 2015 (Singapore) editions.
Bias judging could again taint the sport in the KL edition with Malaysia holding an advantage over exponents from other countries.
But national coach Lim Yew Fai said bias judging is a thing of the past in the sport.
“Maybe, it was a problem a decade ago. In the past, China exponents just have to touch the competition mat to guarantee a gold medal,” said Yew Fai.
“The International Wushu Federation (IWF) are very strict over judging as they want the sport to be part of the Olympics one day.
“In last year’s World Cup, a China exponent lost the gold when he landed wrongly. Wushu is an art and an exponent must complete a pattern of movements correctly to earn high points.
“I believe the KL edition will be a tight event with Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam being the strongest. Myanmar, Singapore and the Philippines each have one or two good exponents.”
Malaysia have several world and Asian champions in their squad, and they are expected to surpass their best ever haul of 62-5 at the 2001 KL edition
Yew Fai, who won a bronze on his debut in the 2001, said the only problem for his exponents is pressure from local fans.
“I have reminded my exponents to forget that they are competing in KL. The mat and the weapons are the same in every competition.
“They only need to walk onto the competition mat and complete their routines with minimal mistakes.
“Of course, some exponents are carrying injuries but they are under control. For example, Loh Jack Chang has a special training programme just enough for him to complete routines as he has various injuries,” said Yew Fai.
The 33-year-old coach believes the recent stint in China has helped his exponents make inroads in tightening their routines.
“My job is to get them to gold medal standard. There are many events that we are strong at. It all depends on competition day. As long they do not make mistakes, they will be on the podium.
“During our China stint, we focused on routines. The coaches in China were a great help in making sure our routines were good,” he added.