Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
NATIONAL wushu exponent Mohd Adi Salihin Roslan returned with his fourth consecutive gold medal from the 33rd SEA Game and this was the toughest one yet.
He first won the gold in 2019 by clinching the men's nandao and nangun combined event.
Adi Salihin followed that up by finishing top of the podium in the nanquan event in the next two SEA Games.
It is this year that he would have to be at his utmost best for a combination of three events – nanquan, nangun and nandao.
He rightfully did so by showing dominance to place top in each of the events for the gold.
"This (gold) is the hardest one (so far) but we kept our mentality strong so we started preparing early for it," said Adi Salihin upon arrival at the Brunei International Airport on Tuesday.
"We didn't prepare two or three months for this. We did it for over a year for these Games.
"I feel proud because I did my best and am happy for this gold medal as it is not for myself but for the country,”added the 25-year-old.
Meanwhile, Basma Lachkar is still in search of her first gold medal at the SEA Games having amassed a total of three silver and two bronze medals since 2017.
Agatha Wong of the Philippines continued to dominate the taijiquan and taijijian events after finishing top of the podium again for the sixth straight edition.
But Basma is unfazed and is proud of what she delivered at the Games.
"I enjoyed my performance and am satisfied with it and so were my coaches," said Basma.
"All the hard work from training paid off and that's what matters regardless of the colour of my medal.
"I'm grateful for the support given by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, BDNOC, coaches and teammates, who are supportive of each other," she added.
"It was mentally tough there but we made it through and that's all that matters," continued the 23-year-old.
It was the third podium finish for Majdurano Joel Majallah Sain after bagging the bronze in the men's duilian event together with his partner Abel Lim Wee Yuan.
He is satisfied with their finish despite the struggles they faced at the Games.
"It was difficult when we first arrived having to adapt to the weather and the food caused problems with some feeling unwell," said Joel.
"But we did our best till the end and we are proud that we got the bronze," he concluded.
