Wushu: Central zone halt clean sweep by Southern zone

IT is mission accomplished for Hiu Bong Shen as he picked up a gold medal for Southern Zone wushu team yesterday. The 17-year-old Senior Three student of Chung Hua Middle School No. 4 Kuching won the sanda Boys 52kg title after beating Alvin Yet Thien You of Northern Zone in the final.

Hiu’s confidence has grown after seven months training under coach Tsan Nieng Khai.

“l had expected to win and, furthermore, this is the second time that l have beaten Alvin after losing to him the first time during the state wushu meet at Aeroville Mall last year,” he told The Borneo Post.

After Suksar, he is eyeing more training and exposure in competitions to aim for gold in the Malaysia Games (Sukma) this August.

On the second day of the wushu competition at Wong Nai Siong School, Southern Zone almost made a clean sweep, grabbing three out of the four gold medals. Southern Zone are now leading the wushu competition with seven golds, five silvers and three bronzes. In second to fourth place are Central Zone (4-1-6), Northern Zone (1-6-9) and Western Zone (0-0-4).

State athlete Carmen Chaw Jia Min bagged the first gold of the day after posting a combined score of 18.522 points from optional tajiquan (9.216) and optional taijijian (9.306). Jocelyn Ha Chen Xi of Northen Zone took the silver with 17.349 points while the bronze medalist was Andra Chan Zhi Zheng of Southern Zone with 17.319 points.

The other two golds were contributed by Serene Teo Xin Ling (Girls Group B 42-style taijiquan and 42-style taijijian, and Chang Kang Yu (Boys Group B 42-style taijiquan and 42-style taijijian).

Another state athlete Johan Wong Wei Xiang of Central Zone prevented the Southern Zone from a clean sweep when he won the Boys optional tajiquan and taijijian combined with a total of 18.583 points. The silver and bronze went to Southern Zone’s Golden Sim Xiang Yu (18.426) and Elson Chong Jia Bao (17.722) respectively.