| Fadhil Yunus |
BRUNEI Darussalam’s wushu athlete Mohammad Adi Salihin bin Roslan bagged his country’s first medal at the 19th Sukma Games after clinching silver in the men’s nanquan event at the Perak Matriculation College in Gopeng, Perak yesterday.
The national exponent scored 9.50 points, just 0.04 points shy off the winner Negeri Sembilan athlete Calvin Lee Wai Leong who was awarded 9.54 points by the panel. Penang’s Chuah Shangyang grabbed bronze with 9.48 points.
Mohammad Adi Salihin said that his experience in the recently-concluded Asian Games provided him the confidence to showcase a great performance even though he admitted of a few mistakes in his moves during the final.
“I have been interested in wushu since I was small and two of my brothers are national athletes. I am following their footsteps,” Mohammad Adi Salihin was quoted by Bernama.
“I do not think about winning a medal but I want to enjoy each of my performance. Besides that, I’m also able to learn new techniques from the competitors in Malaysia,” he added.
Mohammad Adi, who has been involved with wushu since a decade ago, is making his second appearance in the Sukma Games and will be hoping to defend his men’s nandao silver medal.
The national exponent felt delighted in helping his country to a first medal in this year’s Sukma Games and expressed his hopes that other athletes will display an excellent performance.
Brunei Darussalam wushu coach Li Hui said it is an improved result for Mohammad Adi Salihin having previously finished in eighth place in the last edition.
“This is a great start for Brunei as wushu is the first sporting event in Sukma to be competed by the Brunei contingent,” added Li Hui.
Mohammad Adi Salihin’s compatriot Majdurano Joel bin Majallah Sain finished 20th in the same event.
Brunei Darussalam wushu athlete Hosea Wong Zheng Yu ended in seventh place in the men’s taijiquan event.
Li Hui said of his performance, “Hosea actually did well as this is the first time that he competed in Sukma because he managed to obtain seventh place among so many athletes.”
Witnessing Mohammad Adi Salihin’s silver-winning performance in the wushu event was Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Awang Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin.