12th World Wushu Championships

As most of you in the wushu circles know, many are traveling directly from St. Petersburg to Kuala Lumpur.

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Published: Wednesday October 30, 2013 MYT 6:46:00 PM
Updated: Wednesday October 30, 2013 MYT 6:58:10 PM
All systems go for wushu meet in KL
by lim teik huat

http://www.thestar.com.my/~/media/Im...&h=413&crop=1&

The 12th World Wushu Championships logo themed "Wushu for All". The competition, which begins from Friday till Nov 5 at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium, will see 80 countries taking part.

KUALA LUMPUR: It’s all systems go for the World Wushu Championships, which will begin at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium in Cheras on Friday.

Malaysia will host the biennial event for the second time but the 12th edition will attract the biggest attendance of wushu enthusiasts.

Malaysia hosted the second edition in Kota Kinabalu in 1993 and Kuala Lumpur is hosting the current edition with the tagline of ‘Wushu for All’.

Tournament chief co-ordinator Desmond Yong Loong Chen said that they were now in the final lap of their preparations to host the biggest wushu meet in the world.

“The meet has garnered worldwide support. Eighty countries have confirmed participation so far. We expect about 1,500 participants and officials for the championships. We are putting them up in six hotels in the city.

“It will be an excellent opportunity to showcase martial arts and also create tourism opportunities for our country.

“Malaysian wushu fans can look forward to some exciting performances,” said Desmond, who was also the organising chairman when Malaysia hosted the inaugural World Youth Wushu championships in Kuala Lumpur in 2006.

Desmond admitted that the experience gained from hosting the 2006 youth championships had given them an insight into the logistics involved in organising such a major event.

“But this is much bigger. Thankfully, we have the Tourism Ministry coming in to help support our event.

“They have agreed to sponsor the welcoming dinner for the participants. The National Sports Council (NSC) have also helped us buy the new competition carpet.

“We have also erected tents to be used by the exponents to warm up before they enter the competition arena,” he said.

The competition comprises three disciplines – Taolu (barehands and weapons), Sanshou (Chinese boxing) and Duilian (dual event) – and offer 48 gold medals from Friday until Nov 5.

Malaysia have named 14 exponents and five officials for the world meet.

The officials are Datuk Garry Chua Kah Seng (chef-de-mission), Koo Beng Koon (team manager), Yoong Thong Foong and Luo Hao (taolu coaches) and Khoo Meng Yang (sanshou coach).

The exponents are Lee Yang, Loh Jack Chang, Ho Mun Hua, Ng Say Yoke, Yeap Wai Kin, Ng Shin Yii, Diana Bong Siong Lin, Tai Cheau Xuen, Chai Fong Wei, Phoon Eyin, Tan Jia Guan, Mirage_khan, Lee Wei Loong and Tang Pei Pin.

Meanwhile, former Wushu Federation of Malaysia president Datuk Seri Kee Yong Wee has been appointed as a vice-president of the International Wushu Federation (IWUF), taking over from the late Tun Lim Keng Yaik.

IWUF will also be holding their congress here this week.

IWUF, who were based in China for 22 years, shifted their headquarters to Lausanne, Switzerland, in order for them to get wushu into the Olympics.

The move has paid off, with wushu getting into the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, next year.
One of the matters on the agenda for the congress is the setting up of an Anti-Doping Commission, with Tan Sri Dr M. Jegathesan being proposed to head it.

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For the record:
11 WWC
10 WWC
8 WWG
6 WWG

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Wushu exponents confident of solid show
Sports247.myBy TAN MING WAI | Sports247.my – 19 hours ago

The wushu team are confident of a good showing on home soil. Picture by TAN MING WAI.

ALL eyes will be on Malaysia for the next five days starting today, as a record 1,500 martial artists from 80 countries will be battling it out for 48 gold medals contested at the World Wushu Championships in Kuala Lumpur.

The 12th edition of the biennial meet, themed ‘Wushu for All’, is the biggest championships to date.

The five-day tournament will see a total of 48 events of three disciplines, namely taolu (barehands and weapons), sanshou (Chinese boxing) and duilian(dual event).

Malaysia are no strangers to hosting this championship, with the second edition held in Kota Kinabalu in 1993 as well as the maiden World Youth Wushu Championships in 2006.

The question is how well will our exponents fare, knowing the expectations are high on them to deliver in front of the home crowd.

Malaysia have named a strong line-up of 14 exponents including Lee Yang, Loh Jack Chang, Ho Mun Hua, Ng Say Yoke, Yeap Wai Kin, Ng Shin Yii, Diana Bong Siong Lin, Tai Cheau Xuen, Chai Fong Wei, Phoon Eyin, Tan Jia Guan, Mohd Meeraj Omar, Lee Wei Loong and Tang Pei Pin.

Eight of the 14 have stood on the podium before.

Now they will be aiming to surpass their best ever achievement of four gold medals at the 2005 edition in Vietnam.

Yoong Thong Foong is confident with his charges’ chances of bagging several gold medals.

“We hope to win a few gold medals as favourites China can only enter for 10 of the 28 taolu events,” he said. This is to give other countries a chance to fight for the gold medals.

“I think we stand a chance in the men’s and women’s taijijian, nanquan, daoshu, gunshu and jianshu.”

World Cup runner-up Meeraj, who idolised Bruce Lee, will be out to make a breakthrough by becoming the first Malaysian sanshou world champion.

The 80 participating countries:

Afghanistan, Armenia, Algeria, Australia, Austria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bermuda, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Gabon, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Macau, Maldives, MALAYSIA. Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Palestine, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Singapore, Spain, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia.

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I heard they announced that the 13 WWC will include double broadsword and xingyi for men and double straigtsword and bagua for women.

...from an American, no less.

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Justin Benedik enjoys 'great experience' at wushu worlds
Despite injuries, Maryland alumnus finishes fourth in compulsory changquan
November 09, 2013|By Eric Meany, The Baltimore Sun
Maryland alumnus Justin Benedik enjoyed a successful trip to the recently completed 12th World Wushu Championships in Malaysia, finishing fourth in compulsory changquan (long fist), 15th in gun shu (staff) and 32nd in dao shu (broadsword) last weekend.

It was the first appearance in the world championships for Benedik, 27, who competed despite being hampered by a stress fracture in his sacroiliac joint and a sports hernia.

"The competition was a great experience," Benedik said. "The level was about where I expected — some countries being insanely better than others with the U.S. about in the middle. It was very intimidating practicing alongside the best in the world in warm-ups, but I was surprisingly calm. Not as nervous as I would have thought."

Benedik was particularly pleased by his performance in the compulsory changquan event, in which he finished one position short of a bronze medal.

"It was exciting being third until almost the last competitor [and being] bumped down at the very end," he said. "At the end of the form I felt I did almost as well as I can do with everything I've been dealing with, but I never expected to medal. I just wanted to perform my best, which I felt I did."

China, as expected, dominated the championships, winning 17 gold medals and one silver in 46 events. Hong Kong and Macau, two special administrative regions of China, added a combined total of five gold and five silver medals. The U.S. team finished with one silver and two bronze. Fifty-five teams competed in the tournament, with 31 winning at least one medal each.

"The competition is so huge and the level is so high, it's very humbling," Benedik said. "The competitors are very friendly and embrace the spirit of sportsmanship. It was also very cool to see the people I have been watching on YouTube and trying to be like competing against me."

Now that he has returned from Kuala Lumpur, Benedik's first order of business will be to recuperate. He has been slowed by his injuries since early June and acknowledged that he was not able to be as explosive or fast as he would have liked at the world championships. Surgery has been recommended for the hernia, and at the very least he plans to rest for three to four months to allow the fracture to heal.

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