Sarawak finish fourth at wushu talent carnival
KUCHING: Athletes from the Wushu Federation of Sarawak (WFS) junior development programme kicked off the new season with a fruitful outing at the recent National Talent Carnival Series I Selangor in Shah Alam.
The 13-member team bagged four gold, seven silver and three bronze medals plus five fourth placings to emerge fourth overall in the 13-team field.
Johor were overall champions with nine golds, three silvers and four bronzes, followed by Negeri Sembilan (7-7-3) and Melaka (5-43).
Jun Wei Bintulu Wushu Club, represented by eight athletes, led the medal charge with John Phang securing silver in Boys Group B nanquan with 7.970 points and 8.290 points for the fourth placing in Boys Group B nangun. Phang recently transferred to Kuching for training with the state elite squad under coach Diana Bong.
Sarawak’s other golds were contributed by Yong Jing Xing (Jun Wei) in Boys C taijijian, Jayson Chong (Kuching Elite Wushu Club) in Boys Group C changquan and and Hong Wu Kang (Kuching Elite) in Boys Group B changquan.
Those who won silver medals included Angel Wong (Jun Wei) in Girls Group B nanquan, Ellie Sia (Jun Wei) Girls Group C nanquan, Ashly Ong (Jun Lun) in Girls Group C jianshu, Janessa Chong (Kuching Elite) in Girls Group D qiangshu, Tracy Tiang (Jun Wei) in Girls B gunshu and Yong Jing Xing (Jun Wei) in Boys Group C taijijian.
The bronze medalists were Angel Wong (Girls Group B nangun), Ellie Sia (Girls Group B nangun) and Kuching Elite’s Cherlyn Hong (Girls Group B qiangshu).
Other members of the Sarawak team were Jayden Kho (Jun Wei) who finished 10th in both Boys Group B nanquan and nangun, and Ashlynn Tou (Jun Wei) who was fifth in Girls 24-style taijijquan and placed sixth in 32style taijijian.
“Despite the very short notice given by the organisers on the championship and given that our athletes were still celebrating their Chinese New Year holidays, we still managed to capture four golds.
“This is really a very good motivation and good start to Sarawak Wushu in 2024 and we were only one gold behind the nation’s strong wushu state Melaka. We also beat Kuala Lumpur and Pulau Pinang who usually fielded strong teams from their development programmes in the national meets,” team manager Jong Chin Wei told The Borneo Post yesterday.
“The majority of the team are first-timers in a national competition and I am glad that they are all doing very well,” added Jong who is also WFS secretary and Jun Wei Bintulu Wushu Club president.
Sarawak team was accompanied by coaches Dian Bong and Ronan Chai, judge Goh Swee Li and Sarawak State Sports Council sports development officer Lydiana Esman.