HONGKONG'S number two woman wushu exponent Li Fai dropped a bombshell upon her return from the East Asian Games yesterday by ruling herself out of next year's Asian Games in Hiroshima, Japan.
China-born Li, bronze medallist for the three-event combined in Shanghai, said she will retire after the World Championships in Malaysia in November.
''I want to give up competitions at the peak of my career and I am confident of achieving very good results at the World Championships,'' said the 23-year-old, who is a movie stuntwoman.
''There are eight medals at stake for me in Malaysia because the event also doubles up as a separate tournament for Commonwealth teams and it would be a fitting finale.'' Li will be performing in changquan, cudgel and sword at the world tournament - the same routines which earned her third place in the three-event combined at the East Asian Games.
She is currently the world's number one ranking woman player in cudgel, a long weapon routine which she took up only after a setback at the 1990 Asian Games when she performed the spear.
Li attained her number one ranking after winning the cudgel gold at last year's Asian Championships in South Korea. She also won three silvers - in changquan, sword and all-round.