Fadhil Yunus

Brunei Darussalam wushu athlete Mohammad Adi Salihin bin Roslan cemented his place among the sporting greats in the country after he bagged gold in the combined Men’s Nandao and Nangun events at the 30^th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games at the World Trade Center in Pasay, Philippines yesterday.

The wushu sensation accumulated 9.64 points in the Men’s Nangun round to maintain his position which he had preserved in the Men’s Nandao round.

Mohd Adi Salihin gained an overall score of 19.28 points to win the title ahead of Indonesia’s Harris Horatius who copped silver and Vietnam’s Quoc Khanh Pham who settled for bronze.

The Brunei star bagged the country’s first gold medal since wushu athletes Faustina Woo Sii Wai and Lee Ying Shi triumphed in the women’s duilian event in Naypyidaw, Myanmar in 2013.

Meanwhile, Brunei rising star Hosea Wong Zheng Yu won his second medal of this year’s SEA Games after he snatched bronze in the Men’s Taiji-jian event. The debutant achieved 9.60 points behind gold medallist Malaysia’s Loh Choon How who recorded 9.68 points and Philippines’ Jones Llabres Inso who won silver with 9.65 points.

National wushu coach said, “With the combined events of Nandao and Nanqun, we managed to win the precious gold medal for Brunei Darussalam.”

“This is the first gold medal since the 2013 Myanmar SEA Games.”

He added, “We have worked really hard for the past few years and finally we have gotten the gold medal.”

“The coaching staff and athletes have made much sacrifice to improve and achieve such success.”

“It was an emotional win for us to get the gold medal for the country.” The wushu team enjoyed a successful two days, having already collected two silver medals in the men’s taijiquan and women’s taijiquan, won by Hosea Wong Zheng Yu and Basma Lachkar.

Meanwhile, Brunei Darussalam lawn bowls duo Amaliah binti Haji Matali and Esmawandy Ibrahim secured the silver medal in the women’s pairs event at the 30^th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Clark, Pampanga, the Philippines yesterday. The national pair lost 14-21 to Malaysia’s pair Alyani Jamil and Emma Firyana Saroji in the final.

Meanwhile in the bronze medal playoff, Brunei’s Abdul Rahman Omar and Muhammad Arif bin Amli missed out on a place at the podium after they lost 8-20 to Malaysia.

The lawn bowls competition continues with the men’s fours and women’s triples in the round robin stage.

The men’s fours will see Brunei Darussalam in action against Singapore while Brunei Darussalam will take on the Philippines in the women’s triples.