Brunei bags first-ever gold in Sukma, thanks to wushu’s Walid

KUCHING (Aug 15): Walid Lachkar has done what no other Brunei wushu exponent has managed in the history of the Malaysia Games (Sukma) when he clinched the country’s first-ever wushu gold medal in men’s daoshu in the 21st edition of the Games here today.

In the wushu action at the SSC Wushu Hall here, the 19-year-old was clearly in a class of his own in the 18-man field when he accumulated the highest score of 9.613 points to bag the historic wushu gold.

“I feel happy because not only is it the first gold medal for Brunei in Sukma 2024 but it’s also Brunei’s first-ever in wushu in Sukma.

“Since we (wushu) are the first sport to compete, I hope the other sports will also do their best. To all my teammates tomorrow, I hope athletes from every sport in Brunei will do their best,” he said, looking as if he still can’t believe the feat he has achieved, when met by Bernama after the final.

Melaka’s Lee Ronn (9.593 points) took silver while Kwan Yin Jie (9.590 points) settled for bronze.

Commenting on his performance, the Bruneian, who is making his second Sukma appearance, said: “I think I did well but I feel like there’s still more room for improvement. I hope I can continue to improve.”

Brunei are competing in the 21st edition of the national Games as an invitational contingent.

Meanwhile, Melaka’s Wong Kai Xin bagged the women’s daoshu gold medal after scoring 9.600 points to leave Penang’s Coleen Cheah Weiqi (9.586 points) and Johor’s Lee Jia Rong (9.520 points) to settle for silver and bronze respectively.

Wushu offers a total of 28 gold medals and the three-day competition ends tomorrow. – Bernama