The Malaysian Wushu Federation (MWF) can't help but feel that they have been handed the short-end of the stick for the Vietnam Sea Games.
The biennial regional Games, scheduled to be held in Hanoi in November, will retain the same nine events in the taolu (barehand and weapons) discipline from the 2019 Philippines Sea Games.
However, this is bad news for the women's disciplines as there will only be two taolu events — the taijijian and taijiquan.
MWF president Datuk Chong Kim Fatt said they couldn't get the Hanoi organisers to reinstate a full programme.
"At the 2017 KL Sea Games, we had a full programme of 17 events: eight for the men and nine for the women," he explained.
"Two years ago, the Philippines, however, decided to drop most of the events when we had good exponents. What really surprised me is that Vietnam has also decided not to have most of the women's events.
"It's a decision that's difficult to understand as Vietnam has good women exponents based on previous Sea Games results.
"Vietnam is not only good in taolu but also very strong in sanda (sparring) events.
"But at the end of the day, if there are not many events, we can only expect to send a smaller squad," added Kim Fatt.
The biggest loser at the Vietnam Sea Games will be Wong Weng Son. The 2017 world champion will be once again left frustrated as two of his main events — jianshu and qiangshu — are dropped again.
In the 2019 Sea Games, Malaysia's wushu contingent, who have never failed to deliver a gold medal, won two gold, one silver and one bronze.