Wushu exponent Zeanne Law wins Singapore’s first medal at the Asian Games

NAGOYA – National wushu exponent Zeanne Law shares many things with her Bruneian friend and rival Basma Lachkar.

They share a love for the sport, compete in the same event – the taijiquan-taijijian – and concidentally, the duo – along with China’s Tong Xin and Shiho Saito of Japan – were training at the same base in Fujian, China, in August to prepare for the Asian Games.

On Sept 20, they even shared a medal after the two wushu exponents were jointly awarded bronze with identical scores of 19.443 points in the taijiquan-taijijian at the Asian Games. Law’s achievement was also Singapore’s first medal at the ongoing event.

Tong retained her title with a score of 19.553 at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall, while home favourite Saito (19.473) claimed the silver.

Describing Lachkar as “a really great senior” whom she looks up to, Law said: “I’m feeling very overwhelmed right now because it’s my first medal at the Asian Games.

“It doesn’t matter what colour it is. I’m just glad I managed to win one and the fact that it’s joint made it even more memorable because it made two girls happy at least.”

When competitors finish with identical scores in taolu events, the artistic and technical component of wushu, ties are broken first by their scores in the degree of difficulty followed by overall performance.

But even then, Law and Lachkar remained tied and they were both awarded a bronze.

Lachkar, 23, said: “We not only know each other on the carpet, but also off it, and I’m very honoured to share this medal with Singapore.”

A trailblazer for Brunei sport, Lachkar has placed her country on the world map with her achievements.

These include winning her country’s first-ever gold medal at the World Games, a taijiquan bronze at the World Wushu Championships and a silver at the 2022 Asian Games, making her Brunei’s first silver medallist at the quadrennial event.

Having all four of the medallists in the same Fujian training facility was a boost for Law, 20 – who was there alone – as she noted that her familiarity with them made the Asian Games competition feel like a regular training session.

Their camaraderie was on show at the post-event press conference, as Law helped translate Tong’s answers in Mandarin.

She said: “Before this, I saw them more as competitors and whenever I went for competition, I had my guard up more.

“But now it’s more friendly and I felt happier going into this competition.”

After finishing fourth with 9.720 points in the morning’s taijiquan, Law responded well in the afternoon session by scoring 9.723 points to finish third in the taijijian. That pushed her into a spot on the podium for her first Asiad medal.

In her debut at the Hangzhou Games in 2023, she finished ninth in the same event.

“I wanted to trust myself (in Hangzhou), but I didn’t think I had much credentials to really trust myself because I was so new to the game,” said the Singapore Institute of Technology undergraduate.

“But, after so many competitions now, I’m well equipped with the knowledge and very confident in my expertise and skills.”

Since then, she has established herself on the global stage, becoming a world champion at just 18.

Making her World Wushu Championships bow in 2023, Law took gold in the women’s taijiquan as well as a silver in the women’s duilian.

A year later, she won the women’s taijiquan and optional taijishan titles at the World Taijiquan Championships in Singapore and was also named Sportswoman of the Year at the Singapore Sports Awards.

She now has a bronze medal to add to her burgeoning collection. This is Singapore’s first medal in the taijiquan-taijijian since Liew Yin Yin finished third in the taijiquan combined event at the 2002 Busan Games.

Law is also the ninth local wushu exponent to win a medal at the quadrennial event since the sport was first contested at the 1990 Games in Beijing, China.

At the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, Singapore had two medallists – Jowen Lim and Kimberly Ong, who won the men’s daoshu and gunshu silver and the women’s changquan bronze respectively.

It was an encouraging first day for Singapore at the wushu competition, as Vera Tan came in seventh in the women’s taijiquan-taijijian event with a combined score of 19.382.

The 28-year-old said: “The past week I had a little bit of injuries and a lot of self-doubt, so I’m happy I managed to overcome that.

“But there were also sad tears because this is probably my last Asian Games, so it’s bittersweet.”

Chia Kai Ming had a memorable Games debut as he came close to a medal in the men’s changquan, missing out by only 0.004 points as he was fourth with 9.716 points.

The 20-year-old was glad to be competing, after sustaining a distal fibular fracture with bone displacement in his right leg, which put him out of competitive action for over a year.

He said: “It’s a very proud moment for me because I never expected that I’ll be able to come back from my injury. So, being able to represent Singapore and sharing the carpet with many big names in wushu is one of the moments of my career.”

Lee Hong Chuang, Singapore Wushu Dragon and Lion Dance Federation vice-president, said: “They’ve put in perfect routines – you can tell that it’s very clean, neat and very tight.

“Because of these Asian Games, they’ve had lots of preparations locally and overseas and they’re very united as a team. Coming to the stadium and watching how they support one another, you can feel the team spirit is there.”