Singapore capture record six golds at Asian Junior Wushu Championships

SINGAPORE – Lucas Teo loved watching gongfu movies while growing up. Since the age of six, he was intrigued by the acrobatic action on-screen and frequently tried to perform the moves in his own room.

Seven years on, what began as a recreational pursuit is now a serious one. The 13-year-old was part of Singapore’s 14-member squad that returned from the recent Asian Junior Wushu Championships in Macau with a record haul, amassing six gold, four silver and eight bronze medals to surpass the previous best of five golds, seven silvers and eight bronzes in 2019.

The winners are Lucas, Kassandra Ong, 17, Chua Xin Yun, 15, Cholene Aw, 14, Tan Hui En and Aaron Lim, both 10. The latter two were the youngest in the travelling squad. The Aug 15-20 competition was split into three age-group categories, C for 8-11, B for 12-14 and A for 15-18.

Speaking at the Singapore Wushu Dragon and Lion Dance Federation headquarters in Bedok North on Friday, Lucas said: “I was really inspired by the moves in the gongfu movies as they were very cool.

“After watching the movies, I tried to imitate the moves at home like kicking, and my parents saw that. So they signed me up for wushu.”

The gunshu (cudgel) gold medallist had participated in the National School Games (NSG) while in primary school. That was when he started taking wushu more seriously.

He said: “At the start I was just having fun and I really enjoyed it. But when I was eight or nine, I realised that in competitions like NSG, I was doing quite well for my age.

“That was what got me motivated to represent Singapore as I found the target reachable.”

Lucas was brought into the national junior team when he was 10. However, his journey was not all smooth sailing. He suffered a hamstring injury at the end of 2021 which hampered his ability to perform certain movements like flying kicks.

He added: “I was more frustrated after (the injury) because I haven’t done certain movements for a long time and my performance became a lot worse. I just kept on practising to get back to what it was (before the injury).”

His teammate Kassandra, who clinched one gold and two silvers at the World Junior Championships in 2022, has also endured her own challenges.

After making her junior international debut in 2016, she had to wait for six years before tasting competitive action again. In Macau, she claimed gold in gunshu, a silver in daoshu (broadsword) and a bronze in duilian (choreographed sparring).

Calling those six years “tough times” for her, she said: “I was not selected for competitions, so I actually felt like giving up then. I also fractured my ankle in 2019.

“But I just kept going on and told myself that one day I’ll get the chance to represent Singapore again... so I slowly worked my way back.”

Her family, including her sister and two-time SEA Games wushu champion Kimberly, 21, have been pillars of strength.

Kassandra, who hopes to compete at the 2025 Games alongside her older sister, said: “My siblings always talk to me, every time I was having problems I can just talk to them and tell them how I’m feeling, and they would give me their opinions on what I should do.”

Her father, businessman Ong Kok Hwa, 55, said they tried to provide a “strong support system”. He added: “She could come to us any time when she needed someone to talk or rant to.”

For Hui En, who clinched a silver at the 2022 World Junior Championships, the gold in the daoshu event was hugely satisfying. She said: “I feel very happy, as this year I was able to hear the national anthem play.”

The federation’s high performance manager Valerie Wee was impressed by Hui En’s maturity, saying: “She handled everything well, and was very composed and confident.”

On the team’s performances in Macau, Wee added: “As a whole, they performed up to standards according to our expectations.”