Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
BRUNEI ended their campaign at the 16th World Wushu Championships in Texas, USA by adding a silver medal to their tally on Tuesday morning (Brunei time).
The pair of Abel Lim and Majdurano Joel Majallah Sain finished runners-up in the men's duilian event at the Fort Worth Convention Centre.
They tallied 9.613 points only to finish behind the Philippines by just 0.003 points.
Spain completed the podium with their score of 9.433 points.
The result was an upgrade as the duo had won bronze in the same event at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia in May.
Lim was delighted to bag second place.
"I feel extremely happy about winning this medal as I really didn’t expect anything from this competition," said the 16-year-old in an interview with BruSports News.
"I came here for the experience and I feel we are really lucky to have gotten a silver medal," added the Year 9 St George's School student.
Lim had a good year after teaming up with Walid Lachkar to win gold in the event at the Asian Junior Wushu Championships in Macau in August.
No time for complacency
With Brunei's showing, they qualified for the Wushu World Cup to be held in Japan next year.
National wushu coach Li Hui is proud of his charges but reiterated that there is still plenty to be done.
"I always tell the athletes that once you get on the podium, everything becomes the past and once you get off it, everything starts from zero again," said Li.
"That is because we have to prepare for the next goal.
"Despite our achievements at the Asian Games and World Championships, we cannot be arrogant and have to continue to work hard," he added.
"Even those who didn't get the results they wanted shouldn't be discouraged," continued the Chinese national.
Li also highlighted the Chinese proverb 'Drinking the water of a well: One should never forget who dug it' before going on to thank those who made their achievements possible.
"My next job is to sum up the experience of this competition and find out the shortcomings and areas that need improvement," said Li.
"We will continue to train hard, and make more contributions to the country," he concluded.
