RI wushu athletes to compete in Beijing

Indonesia is sending up to 50 competitors, mostly junior athletes, to take part in the 8th Beijing International Wushu Invitational Tournament in China, scheduled to take place at the Shijingshan Gymnasium on July 24-27.

The biannual tournament — a prestigious event in China, where the sport originated — will feature a wide-range of competitions including changquan, nanquan, mulan, taijiquan, broadsword, straight sword, staff, spear as well as exhibition matches.

The majority of Indonesian wushu athletes came from the Jakarta-based wushu school Inti Bayangan, which was the overall champion at the National Wushu Competition in early July in Jakarta when it collected nine gold medals.

Other large wushu schools such as Rajawali Sakti, Harmony, Phoenix and Naga Mas will also send representatives to the event.

“It is a great chance for our athletes to gain experience by joining an international competition. That’s why Inti Bayangan sends as many athletes as it can, as long as the athletes have shown good performance so far,” said Ahmad Rivai, the former national wushu athlete who now runs Inti Bayangan.

“The tournament allows participating athletes to represent themselves, their dojos [school], their provinces or their nations. Inti Bayangan sends 26 athletes, mostly children, to represent the dojo’s name. This time we will contribute the greatest number of athletes from Indonesia.”

“We did not set any target for this upcoming tournament as we have no idea about the other competitors,” he said, adding that two years ago Indonesia was not invited by the organizers.

Nine-year-old Melina Janet, granddaughter of Indonesian Wushu Association chair IGK Manila, is eager to compete in China.

“I have trained almost every day to prepare myself for the competition,” Melina said.

Melina won medals in the sword and spear categories during the last Wushu Junior Open championship held earlier this year.

Achmad Hulaefi, who was ranked third in the Wushu World Championship in 2006, will also compete in Beijing. Both Melina and Hulaefi won several medals, including the gold, in the recent National Wushu Competition 2010.