Wushu federation out to produce more ‘sanda’ athletes in Sarawak

KUCHING (Nov 3): The Wushu Federation of Sarawak (WFS) will intensify efforts in developing and grooming more high-calibre ‘sanda’ (free sparring) athletes.

According to WFS deputy president James Ting Ing Seek, sanda has the potential of contributing medals to the Sarawak team in national-level competitions such as Malaysia Games (Sukma) and the National Wushu Championship.

“We have produced some encouraging results in the three previous editions of Sukma and hence, it is important for us to identify and unearth the new talents.

“WFS will place its focus on the rural areas because they (new talents) are stronger in terms of physical capabilities and endurance and have fewer distractions than their urban counterparts,” he said at the closing of the 32nd Sarawak Wushu Championship at Sarawak Wushu Training and Competition Centre in Sarawak Sports Complex, Petra Jaya here recently.

Apart from that, Ting also highlighted the need to hold more coaching and judging courses so as to better training of athletes and also to contribute to more quality judging in sanda competitions.

“The standard of ‘taolu’ (set routine) in many states has improved a lot, and the competition for medals in Sukma is always fierce and very competitive.

“As such, we need to put more efforts in developing sanda in Sarawak, with the hope of producing good athletes who can help contribute medals to our home state,” he added.

Meanwhile, athletes from Kuching made a near clean sweep of the gold medals up for grabs in the sanda competition of the Sarawak Wushu Championship.

The Kuching team, competing under MMA Sports Hub Mad Fight Club banner, performed excellently in four out of the five categories.

Amber Sim Jia Xuan of SMK Kuching High bagged the Girls 48kg title after she defeated Roxanne Awa from SK Satria Jaya 2-0.

More impressively, Xavier Wee Hao Zhe from SJK Chung Hua Mile 4.5 scored a technical knock-out (TKO) win over Ryan Seacrest Royson of SK St Francis Xavier in the Boys 39kg bout, while Kenji Tsan Jin Wei of SJK Chung Hua No 6 also recorded TKO over Ryan Seacrest in Boys 38kg.

The Boys 72kg bout saw Alberne Kyra Kam Abner Ella of SK Laksamana defeating Xander Deshawn Awa of SMK DPHA Gapor 2-0.

Also registering 2-0 win in the two-day competition was Roxanne Awa of SK Satria Jaya, who outdid Veronica Laguerte of Sunny Hill School in the Girls 48kg bout.

Cynthia Lee Wan Ching of Kelab Wushu Jelutong Sarikei prevented a clean sweep of gold medals by Kuching when she beat Amber Sim Jia Xuan 2-0 in the Girls 52kg bout.

The sanda competition involved 17 athletes from Kuching and Sarikei.

The championship was co-organised by the federation and the Sarawak Sports Corporation, under sanction of the Wushu Federation of Malaysia.

It gathered 145 athletes representing eight teams, competing in various categories.

The event also received approval from the Education Department Sarawak, as well as support from Sarawak State Sports Council.