Basma becomes big hit for tiny Brunei after historic silver in wushu

BRUNEI’S Basma Lachkar (pic) was only 15 when she made her debut at the last Asian Games.

Due to her inexperience, she finished 13th out of 16 competitors in the women’s taijiquan and taijijian all-round event.

But five years later, the 20-year-old has become a new sporting heroine for Brunei after winning an unprecedented silver in the event with a total of 19.502 points on Sunday.

China’s Tong Xin claimed gold with a combined score of 19.696s.

The silver medal is a historic achievement for Brunei as the tiny country has only won four bronze medals at the Asian Games stage previously - in karate and sepak takraw.

It is also her country’s first medal at the Asian Games since 2002 when karate exponent Tong Kit Siong took bronze in the men’s kumite below 75kg.

Basma, who was the flag bearer for the Brunei contingent during Saturday’s opening ceremony, said it has not really sunk in yet.

“I have not actually processed this. This is really big and I am honoured.’’

Born to a Moroccan father and Bruneian mother, Basma said she was nine when she first took up wushu in Chung Hwa Middle School.

“The other co-curricular activities were full and so wushu was my only option. I slowly started to love the sport,” said Basma who also created history last year when she clinched gold at the World Games in Birmingham, the United States.

“I’ve tried to improve and gained a lot of experience since my first Asiad five years ago.

“At the last Games, I focused too much on the rankings, so I felt the pressure and was nervous.

“But this time I learnt my lesson and just wanted to get through the process without being nervous.

“The second part of the programme, which is the taijijian, was the best part for me because there were many risks.

“A lot of things can happen. The sword can hit my body at any time, and so I had to be really careful but the high level of difficulty helped,” said Basma.

Basma and Co had spent two months training in Hebei and Hangzhou and they had also engaged two Chinese coaches Li Hui and Zhao Chunjie to raise their standards.