BY James Kon

National wushu athletes Basma Lachkar and Hosea Wong Zhenyu left the country on Thursday night with national coach Li Hui and coach Zhao Chunjie to compete in the World Games 2022.

The World Games – from July 7 to 17 in Birmingham, Alabama, United States – is an international multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association with the support of the International Olympic Committee. Some 3,600 athletes from 34 sports and over 100 countries will take part in 223 events during the games.

Basma Lachkar is scheduled to compete in the female taiji quan and taiji jian events while Wong will be contesting in men taiji quan and taiji jian events.

Li said, “This is the highest level of international competitions in wushu tournaments. Among those who qualify for the selection are top 10 players in the 15th World Wushu Championships in 2019. Two athletes from our national wushu team are fortunate to qualify for the competition – Basma (seventh place), Wong (10th place) will be in the games with 64 top wushu exponents.

“This is a rare learning opportunity for our national atheltes. I hope our athletes will not be nervous and show their best skills. I would like to thank His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and the Brunei Wushu Federation for their continued support. We will cherish this opportunity and contribute to the country.”

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin