The Sultanate continued their excellence in wushu during the second day of the 9th World Junior Wushu Championships after bagging two gold and one silver at the Indoor Stadium of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex yesterday.
Local junior exponent Meagan Marie Keasberry struck gold in the Girl’s Taijiquan ‘C’ event with Samuel Yong Jun Ong emulating the feat in the Boy’s Taijiquan ‘C’ event.
Meagan’s winning mark of 8.480 points proved enough to fend off fierce competition from her Malaysian rival Yu Xuan Ng who collected silver with 8.456 points.
In the boy’s event, Samuel outscored his Malaysian rival Chlamous K Shin Jay Wong with a total of 8.446 points, compared to the latter’s haul of 8.353 points.
Both Meagan and Samuel are inspired by national wushu star Basma Lachkar, who is one of the decorated performers in the sport.
Meagan said, “She (Basma) has the patience and she gets medals more often than she used to have and she has the confidence to do it.
In an interview, Samuel said that his parents motivate her adding that he would be working hard to win more medals in the future.
Meanwhile, Meagan said, “I feel very honoured and it is like a once in a lifetime experience. Being able to be in the podium is such a big thing for me.”
At one point, the junior athlete spoke on falling out of interest with the sport before finding a path in her progression.
She added, “I feel like at the start this could be wasting my time but slowly you realise that this opens so many doors for your future so we just continue.”
Her journey in the sport began when she was eight while Samuel began when he was seven.
Earlier, another local junior exponent Ching Hwa Chu has secured silver in the Boy’s Taijiquan ‘A’ event.
The country’s junior athlete amassed a total of 9.156 points trailing only to eventual gold medallist China’s Guozhiyu Han, who posted a winning score of 9.266 points.
Indonesia’s Nabil Fa’iq Salman Al Farizi completed the podium in bronze with a total score of 9.153 points.
Ching’s silver achievement is the country’s second medal after Walid Lachkar secured silver in the Boy’s Changquan ‘A’ event in the first day of the competition. – Fadhil Yunus
