Taijishan fan Zeanne Law wins second gold at World Taijiquan Championships
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Singapore's Zeanne Law wins gold in the World Taijiquan Championships women's optional taijishan at the OCBC Arena.
PHOTO: CHEAH CHENG POH
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SINGAPORE – Winning a world title brings joy but also expectation, and Singapore’s Zeanne Law was able to put that aside to enjoy her craft as she took to the competition mat at the World Taijiquan Championships on Aug 26.
Two days after clinching the taijiquan gold, Law added a second when she won the women’s optional taijishan event at the OCBC Arena.
The 18-year-old topped the three-woman field with a score of 9.706, while compatriot Trinity Chua took silver (9.656) and Hong Kong’s Au Yeung Pui Yue claimed bronze (9.206).
Law said: “The main factor of today’s win was my genuine enjoyment for taijishan. It is my favourite discipline but I rarely get to compete in it, so this competition was the perfect opportunity to showcase this routine.
“Having a strong connection to the event gave me the confidence and joy that allowed me to perform at my best. Knowing that it’s my last event for the whole competition allowed me to leave everything on the floor and perform with no regrets.
“Throughout this competition, I faced challenges that made me doubt myself. However, I know that I have the skills and preparation to overcome them and trusting myself allowed me to perform at my best.”
In the three disciplines of taiji at the fourth edition of the championships, taijiquan focuses on the fists, while exponents practising taijijian use a sword, and competitors in taijishan perform with a Chinese fan.
Law explained: “It is more difficult to manage the fan because sometimes it can slip out of the hand. I had experiences of my fan dropping during competition, so the fear of messing up adds to the level of difficulty performing this routine, which makes it more challenging and exhilarating to perform.”
Earlier in the championships, she was also victorious among a field of 16 in the optional taijiquan and claimed silver in the optional taijijian behind compatriot Vera Tan.
Her triumphs follow from her taijiquan gold at the World Wushu Championships in the United States in November 2023.
Law’s next assignment is the Sept 9-16 Asian Wushu Championships in Macau.
She said: “While I’m proud of my winning form in the past two competitions, I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself to repeat my successes.
“Instead I’m focusing on using these experiences as stepping stones to further improve... for future competitions.”
Similarly, Chua is also hoping her silver can propel her towards her ultimate goal of standing atop the podium on the world stage.
The 17-year-old, who was fourth in the optional taijiquan and 10th in the optional taijijian, said: “I feel very overwhelmed as the many hours of training I have put into this competition have finally paid off.
“I want to work on having more stability and stamina so that I can complete my routine better in future competitions.
“I’m also working on getting more chances to represent Singapore on the international stage, and to be recognised as a worthy competitor.”
Singapore’s Zeanne Law (centre) wins gold at the women’s optional taijishan event while Trinity Chua (left) and Hong Kong’s Au Yeung Pui Yue take silver and bronze respectively.
PHOTO: CHEAH CHENG POH
Meanwhile, in the women’s third set taijijian (36 movements), Singapore’s 15-year-old Cholene Aw clinched silver with a score of 8.816 behind American Priscilla Zou (8.956). Egyptian Rojy Alaa Elsayed Ibrahim won the bronze (8.580) in the four-athlete event.
Cholene said: “I’m focusing more on the success rate for my difficulty jumps... as well as my facial expressions that can help me showcase my capabilities. I hope to have more chances to compete overseas as well as to inspire more people to share the same interest I have in this sport.
“This is a good start to my senior journey as it’s my first time competing in an A division event. Today’s result definitely motivates me to work harder towards my goals.”
Singapore also celebrated another bronze as Tay Yu Xuan finished third out of six competitors in the wu style taijiquan (45 movements) with a score of 9.140, behind Macau’s Wong Kui Sin (9.170) and South Korea’s Choe Hyeong-jun (9.160).
Compatriots Yeo Jun Wei and Lim Che How finished first and second respectively in the simplified 32 movements taijijian, while Jolie Goh and Ng Zhe Nin were second and third respectively behind Hong Kong’s Xia Xue in the 42 movements taijijian.
Tan En Jie was also second behind Hong Kong’s Kwong Long Yui in the yang style taijiquan. However, no medals were awarded as these are demonstration routine events. The world championships end on Aug 27.
