Table tennis aims for big leagues, to professionalise from 2021 By Low Lin Fhoong ITTF (From left to right) STTA president Ellen Lee, Sportsmaster founder Frank Ji, IOC member Ng Ser Miang and ITTF president Thomas Weikert at the announcement at Shangri-La Hotel. Published02 July, 2018 Updated 02 July, 2018 SINGAPORE – The sport of table tennis is set for a major transformation from 2021, as the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) embarks on an ambitious plan to emulate big-money sports such as tennis and golf. In a move to professionalise the sport – which could see Singapore’s paddlers competing with the world’s best for more prize money – the ITTF on Monday (July 2) signed an agreement with sports marketing agency Sportsmaster to set up a new professional platform for its tournaments. Under the ITTF’s new structure, the professional platform will include the existing World Tour, Challenge Series, World Veterans Tour, the T2 Asia-Pacific Table Tennis League (T2APAC), and Table Tennis X, a time-based format competition introduced in 2016. The annual world championships, global junior programme, and para table tennis will come under its institutional platform, and both platforms will incorporate the systems for world rankings and Olympic qualification. The changes will help boost tournaments’ prize purses, increase players’ tour earnings and turn them into star athletes, said ITTF president Thomas Weikert. “This is a significant step for us as it’s a big game changer…it’s a brand new proposition for us, for associations, players, and the fans,” said Mr Weikert at the ITTF’s announcement at Shangri-La Hotel on Monday. “This will open up commercial potential for table tennis, more income for the players, more funds for development projects, more income for national sports associations, and the ITTF family.” Compared to other professional sports such as tennis and golf, the ITTF World Tour still has much catching up to do before it can join the big leagues. The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour in 2012 boasted a total prize purse of US$279 million (S$382 million) for 45 events, while the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour offered prize money of over US$100 million in 2015. The Badminton World Federation, which is regarded as the closest rival to table tennis, currently offers a prize purse of over US$15 million for the 2018 season. In contrast, the 2017 ITTF World Tour’s 13 events had a total prize purse of US$3.305 million. ITTF chief executive Steve Dainton acknowledged that the sport is “a little bit behind”, but is hopeful that with the move to professionalise in 2021, “we will be able to jump above them (badminton) in a few years”. The move was welcomed by paddlers, including Singaporean world No 46 Yu Mengyu. “The ITTF has taken a positive step to turn table tennis into a leading sport globally,” said the 28-year-old. “I am looking forward to taking on this new challenge, and seizing these new opportunities.” As part of the agreement with ITTF, T2APAC – which is owned by Sportsmaster – will organise Diamond-level events in 2019 and 2020 to test new initiatives that will restructure the tour and transform the sport. New gameplay formats, ball-tracking technology, and broadcast innovations could be some of the changes introduced in a bid to make the sport more exciting and attractive to fans and commercial sponsors, said the ITTF. Mr Weikert said T2APAC’s “dynamic, fresh, and new ideas” was what the ITTF wanted for its own products. Started last June, the US$1.75 million T2APAC in Johor, Malaysia, featured 24 of the world’s best paddlers competing in an innovative mixed team league comprising 24-minute matches and kill-zone games. Hailing T2APAC as a “disruptor” to the sport, Sportsmaster founder Frank Ji said that putting its slate of events under the ITTF’s umbrella would allow it to act as a testbed. “Table tennis has massive untapped potential…this is great news for the table tennis world, and something we should be very excited about,” he added. However, any changes will only kick in from 2021 as the ITTF’s commercial rights agreement with Sportsmaster for the World Tour and other events will run till 2020. Table tennis fans here could also get to see the world’s best paddlers in action in 2019 or 2020, as the ITTF revealed that it is in talks with the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) to host the season-ending US$1 million World Tour Grand Finals here. If successful, this will be the biggest table tennis event to be hosted by Singapore, after the US$150,000 Volkwagen Women’s World Cup in October 2011. STTA president Ellen Lee said the association hopes to host the event “in the next two years”, but that it would depend on funding from the relevant authorities, as well as corporate sponsors.
Schooling: Fortunate to win fifth award Sportsman of the Year Joseph Schooling (right) with Sportsgirl of the Year, synchronised swimmer Debbie Soh. TNP PHOTO: TIMOTHY DAVID Singapore's Olympic 100m butterfly champion named Sportsman of the Year for the fifth time Lim Say Heng Sports Correspondent Jul 19, 2018 06:00 am Joseph Schooling won the Sportsman of the Year for a record-extending fifth time at the Singapore Sports Awards last night, but said he was "fortunate" to win the accolade this year. The reigning Olympic 100m butterfly champion may have won six gold medals - including three relays - at the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur last year, as well as the joint bronze in the men's 100m fly at the Fina World Championships, but the 23-year-old "wasn't too happy" with his showing in the last season. "Based on how I felt last year, I was very fortunate to win this year," said Schooling at the award ceremony at the Marina Bay Sands last night. "When you go into a competition or awards, you wouldn't want to have any doubts... after 2016 (Rio Olympics), yes, I thought I performed well, but last year I thought I would have done better." This was his fourth consecutive win in the category. He also triumphed in 2012. Fellow swimmer Ang Peng Siong (1983-1985) was the only other athlete to win the Sportsman gong thrice in a row. While he felt his performances last year were below his high standards, Schooling said he is in much better shape to take on the Asian Games in Indonesia next month. At the 2014 edition in Incheon, South Korea, he won one gold (100m fly), one silver (50m fly) and one bronze (200m fly). He said: "I am happy the way it turned out (last year) because it opened my eyes: you can't be eating rubbish, drinking soda and staying up late. "I haven't been this light (in body weight) since Rio, my strength's back up, and I am pulling less body weight with the strength I have and I am really feeling the difference in the pool." The aquatics fraternity also scooped up several other major titles last night. Swimming's National Training Centre head coach Gary Tan was named the Coach of the Year, while synchronised swimmer Debbie Soh received the Sportsgirl of the Year accolade. Soh and the rest of the 2017 SEA Games synchronised swimming team were named the Sportsboy/ Sportsgirl Team of the Year (event). The 20-year-old Soh, who won three SEA Games golds (solo free, duet technical and team free) in Malaysia, said: "I felt like last year was a series of many peaks... although whether or not we win shouldn't be the main thing that drives us, but it will help us push forward. "It shows that what we have been doing has been working for us." The other winners of the main awards were paddler Feng Tianwei (Sportswoman of the Year) and sailor Muhammad Daniel Kei Mohammad Yazid (Sportsboy of the Year). The women's bowling team won the Team of the Year (event), while the women's floorball team won the Team of the Year (team sport). Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu were among the guests at the gala event which celebrates Singapore's best sporting talents. In his speech, Mr Tan, who is Singapore National Olympic Council president, said: "We endeavour to do our best. Can we do better? For sure, always, we want to make sure that we support each and every one of you as best as we can. "Tonight is a testament of that journey... there will be ups and there will be downs, but I think Singapore has come a long way."
TODAY editor wins inaugural Sports Journalist of the Year award Jason Quah/TODAY TODAY's Low Lin Fhoong receives the Sports Journalist of The Year award at the 2018 Singapore Sports Awards award ceremony on Wednesday, July 18, 2018. Published18 July, 2018 Updated 19 July, 2018 SINGAPORE — TODAY editor Low Lin Fhoong clinched the inaugural Sports Journalist of the Year prize at this year’s Singapore Sports Awards. At the ceremony held at Marina Bay Sands on Wednesday (July 18) evening, Ms Low beat four other nominees in her category to clinch the award, which comes with a cash prize of S$2,000 and a trophy. The other nominees for the award were Mr Duncan Elias (Eleven Sports), Mr Kenneth Tan (FourFourTwo), Mr Lim Say Heng (The Straits Times) and Mr Shamir Osman (The Straits Times). The 39-year-old veteran, who has 10 years of journalism experience under her belt, accepted the award from Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu. "It is a huge honour to win this award for the first time, and I would like to thank my colleagues — both past and present — and bosses who have guided and helped me through the years,” said Ms Low. She added: “It is a tough time to be a sports journalist in today's challenging media environment, and I hope we can continue to tell the stories of some of Singapore sport's most inspiring and passionate athletes, and the people who have supported them.” Ms Low has previously bagged two awards at the Singapore Sports Awards — the Most Inspiring Sports Story of the Year — for two consecutive years in 2014 and 2015. At the ceremony, Olympic champion Joseph Schooling won the Sportsman of the Year award for a record fifth time. Schooling, who won a bronze medal at the World Championships last year, edged wushu's Jowen Lim and cyclist Calvin Sim to the prize. He also won six SEA Games gold medals in Kuala Lumpur. Schooling also won the award in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017. The Sportswoman of the Year goes to table tennis player Feng Tianwei. Sailor Mohammad Daniel Kei is crowned Sportsboy of the Year, and the Sportsgirl of the Year goes to synchronised swimmer Debbie Soh.
http://www.singaporeolympics.com/singapores-sporting-moments-from-1965-to-2015/ Joseph Schooling clinched Singapore’s first-ever Commonwealth Games swimming medal by taking silver in the 100-metre butterfly in 2014, his top form continued at the 28th SEA Games winning 9 gold medals for Singapore. 08 Aug 2015 Singapore’s sporting moments from 1965 to 2015 Category: Asian Games , Commonwealth Games , Olympic Games , SEA Games , Youth Olympic Games By Teo Teng Kiat To coincide with Singapore’s 50th birthday celebrations, we look back at some of the major sporting highlights and milestones for the nation in each year of its existence. 1965 Eight days before Singapore gained independence, two goals from Quah Kim Song and one from Majid Ariff in the final 17 minutes saw the Lions come back and beat Selangor 3-1 to retain the Malaya Cup (now the Malaysia Cup). An early birthday present, though it would be another 12 years before they triumphed again. 1966 Singapore recorded their best-ever Asian Games football result to date when they finished fourth out of 11 teams in Bangkok. The Lions squad saw off hosts Thailand before going down to Japan in the semi-final as they proved that they could mix it with Asia’s best. 1967 The Singapore Sports Awards were first introduced by the Singapore National Olympic Council to recognise the finest local athletes and their achievements. It would go on to become the most coveted awards in the Singapore sporting scene. 1968 At the Olympics in Mexico City, track and field legend C. Kunalan set a record that would stand for 33 years when he sprinted 100 metres in 10.38 seconds. 1969 Singapore’s oldest track and field record to date was set by Arumugan Kannan when he won the bronze in the 50km racewalk at the SEAP Games. The mark of 5:07.03 has lasted almost 46 years now. At the same competition, C. Kunalan won gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x400m relay. 1970 Singapore won their first-ever track and field relay medal at an Asian Games when the 4×100-metre female quartet of Schushila Wadhumal, Gan Bee Wah, Maimoon Abu Bakar and Glory Barnabas took silver in Tehran. They beat China to second place behind Japan. Only one more women’s relay Asiad medal, also a silver, has been won since then – in the 4x400m four years later. 1971 Syed Abdul Kadir won Singapore’s first-ever SEA Games boxing gold by stunning defending champions Vanla Dawla. The Burmese representative had come into that year’s SEAP Games – as it was then known – as Asia’s best boxer, but was upset in Kuala Lumpur by Kadir. The following year, Kadir became the first and only Singapore boxer to make it to an Olympics. 1972 P.C. Suppiah memorably ran his 10,000 metres heat at the Munich Olympics bare-footed in the belief that he could go faster without footwear, having been unable to afford shoes in his earlier days. Remarkably, he broke his own national record and became the first Singaporean man to go under 32 minutes in the event. A year later, he set a new mark that would last for 41 years. 1973 The Grand Old Dame of Kallang, the National Stadium, was officially opened by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The 50,000-seater took six years to construct and would go on to become a true Singapore icon, giving birth to the famous Kallang Roar as it witnessed countless sporting events and history. It was demolished in 2010 and replaced by the Sports Hub. 1974 Chee Swee Lee, one of Singapore athletics’ pioneering lights, became the first Singaporean woman to win a gold medal in the track and field events at an Asian Games. In Tehran, the 19-year-old smashed the Asiad record for the 400 metres by running 55.08 seconds to etch her name into Singapore sporting history. 1975 The last of Singapore’s four SEA Games gold medals in women’s hurdles was won by Heather Merican, who effortlessly cleared barriers over 200 metres in her trademark elegance to triumph in Bangkok. The wait for a fifth continues. 1976 Singapore sent its first-ever judo representative to the Olympics when Koh Eng Kian flew the flag in Montreal. The 20-year-old, who was also the flag-bearer at the opening ceremony, finished 18th out of 32 judokas. 1977 The first-ever Lion City Cup was held in Singapore, featuring two local teams and six Malaysia state teams. A youth football tournament, it was conceptualised by then-Football Association of Singapore chairman Nadesan Ganesan and inspired FIFA to create a similar international tournament, now known as the U17 World Cup. Fandi Ahmad led the Singapore ‘A’ side to victory in the Cup, which will enter its 26th edition this year. 1978 At just 14 years of age, Junie Sng made huge waves in the swimming pool when she stormed her way to Singapore’s first-ever women’s gold at an Asian Games by winning the 400-metre freestyle. The feat, accomplished in a time that was more than four seconds faster than the old meet record, also made her the youngest female gold medalist in the entire Games’ history. One day later, Sng won the 800m freestyle, also in Asiad record time. 1979 K. Jayamani did the double of 1,500 and 3,000 metres at the Jakarta SEA Games when she won both events to take home the only athletics golds for Singapore that year. No Singapore woman would win a running gold until Shanti Veronica Pereira’s 200m triumph 36 years later.
1980 Singapore won the second-last of their 24 Malaysia Cups when they saw off favourites Selangor at the Merdeka Stadium, running out 2-1 victors. The match heralded the coming of age of a certain 18-year-old named Fandi Ahmad, who scored the winner in the 54th minute with the game at 1-1. 1981 Singapore won their first SEA Games medal in volleyball when the women’s team clinched bronze in the SEA Games in Manila, placing behind winners Philippines and runners-up Indonesia. The women would not win another medal for 34 years. 1982 Ang Peng Siong was the first swimmer to truly put Singapore on the world map when, at the age of 20, the speedster clocked 22.69 seconds to win gold in the 50-metre freestyle at the US National Championships in Indianapolis. The time, only 0.15s off the world record then, made him the world number one in 1982. It was also a national record that stood for a remarkable 33 years. 1983 Another Singaporean made world headlines, this time in football when Fandi Ahmad scored against the mighty Inter Milan. The first Singapore footballer to play in Europe when he signed for Dutch side FC Groningen, the 21-year-old striker struck a cool finish past future Italy number one Walter Zenga in a UEFA Cup tie as they won 2-0. Fandi, who was coveted by powerhouses Ajax, went on to become a true Singapore legend. Singapore hosted the SEA Games for the second time, the Republic won 38 gold, 38 silver and 58 bronze medals to finish fourth on the overall medal tally. 1984 Swim king Ang Peng Siong missed out on becoming the first Singapore swimmer to make an Olympics final when he missed out in the 100metre freestyle in Seoul by just one place. The 1982 Asian Games champion in the same discipline had to settle for winning the ‘B’ final. Twenty-four years later, Tao Li finally achieved the feat in the 50m butterfly in Beijing, where she finished fifth. 1985 Adelene Wee became Singapore’s first bowling world champion at the age of 19 when she took first place at the Ladies’ Masters title at the World Games in London. Wee beat out competitors from 23 other nations, all while she was battling with a hamstring injury during the tournament. 1986 The men’s waterpolo team won bronze at the Asian Games in Seoul, one of Singapore’s four bronzes at the tournament. They have failed to finish on the podium since. 1987 Jasmie Hussein won Singapore’s first-ever SEA Games gold in waterskiing in Jakarta, triumphing in the men’s slalom category. He also wins the same category in the Asian Open Waterski Championships the same year, which was held on home soil at the Kallang River. 1988 Mah Li Lian won the first of four consecutive Asian titles when she beat Dawn Olsen of Hong Kong at the 4th Asian Squash Championships in Kuwait. The women’s team won the first of their three team titles as well. 1989 Singapore’s first and to date, only gold medal in golf at the SEA Games was won by Samson Gimson in Kuala Lumpur. The 25-year-old, who turned professional soon after, had wanted the victory to end off his amateur career. 1990 Singapore saw its first world champion in silat when Sheik Alau’ddin bin Yacoob Marican emerged tops in the Pencak Silat World Invitational Championships in Den Haag, Netherlands. Known as the “Silat King”, Sheik would go on to win another world gold in 1994. 1991 Squash was introduced for the first time at the SEA Games and Singapore swept all four gold medals on offer as the glory days for the sport continued, taking home the singles and team crowns for both men and women. 1992 Singapore sent its first-ever Olympics representatives in badminton and fencing to the Games in Barcelona. Female shuttler Zarinah Abdullah headed for Spain along with male counterparts Hamid Khan and Donald Koh, while Wong Liang Hun and Tan Kim Huat took part in both the men’s foil and epee. (Donald Koh recently resigned as CEO of SBA.) 1993 Singapore hosted the SEA Games for the third time and recorded their best-ever medal tally of 164, which also included a record 50 golds. Joscelin Yeo bagged nine of those at the 17th edition of the Games and 22 years would pass before the country staged the biennial event again – the same amount of time those tallies stood as records as well. 1994 In what would be their final year in Malaysian competition, Singapore lifted the Malaysia Cup again after 14 years to complete the league and Cup double under Douglas Moore. Dubbed the “Dream Team”, the likes of Jang Jung, Malek Awab, Steven Tan, Lee Man Hon played starring roles – none more so than Abbas Saad, who struck a hat-trick in the final against Pahang before Fandi Ahmad finished them off in a thumping 4-0 win in front of 81,000 fans at the Shah Alam Stadium. 1995 Murugiah Rameshon broke the national record for the men’s marathon for a fifth and final time when he clocked 2:24.22 in the 1995 SEA Games in Chiangmai, Thailand. The mark still stands today. Yvonne Danson won silver in the women’s marathon in 2:34.41, a national record that is still unbroken as well. 1996 Singapore’s first professional football league was launched, following the decision of the Football Association of Singapore to withdraw from Malaysian competition one year earlier. Eight clubs started off the inaugural season, which was won by a Geylang United side boasting Fandi Ahmad and a pair of future Iranian World Cuppers, Mohammad Khakpour and Hamid Reza Estili. 1997 Shooter Lee Wung Yew had a SEA Games to remember when he bagged four gold medals in Jarkarta, winning two individual ones and two team events. Waterskiier Roger Koa and swim queen Joscelin Yeo followed with three individual triumphs each. The former was also responsible for waterskiing’s best-ever SEA Games overall gold haul, which would be matched 18 years later. 1998 The first of four AFF Championships triumphs for Singapore was won in Vietnam, when the competition as known as the Tiger Cup. Thailand were defending champions heading into this second edition of the tournament, but were eliminated by the hosts in the semi-finals. The Lions then stunned Vietnam in the final as R. Sasikumar’s famous “Shoulder of God” goal gave them a 1-0 victory and the Lions’ first-ever international title. 1999 S. Sinnathurai won Singapore’s only taekwondo gold at the SEA Games in Brunei, emerging as champion in the men’s flyweight. It would be 16 years later before Singapore struck gold again in the sport.
2000 Female paddler Jing Junhong caught the attention of the entire nation as she came desperately close to ending Singapore’s Olympic medal drought when she finished fourth in the singles of the table tennis event in Sydney. Her surprise achievement helped to pave the way for the sport’s eventual success eight years later. Jing is also giving back to the sport – she is the current head coach for the women’s team. 2001 A 33-year-old athletics record was broken when U.K. Shyam lowered the national 100 metre sprint mark for men’s by 0.01 seconds to finally eclipse track legend C. Kunalan. Shyam surpassed the record twice that year, first in the World University Games in Beijing, and then en-route to a silver medal at the SEA Games. His time of 10.37s still remains a record today. 2002 Singapore obtained its first-ever gold medal in badminton at the Commonwealth Games through female shuttler Li Li, who only became a citizen earlier that year. The 19-year-old stunned home favourite Tracey Hallam in four sets in the final of the women’s singles to make history in Manchester. 2003 Li Li spearheaded the Singapore women’s team charge to their first-ever SEA Games gold as they saw off Thailand in the final. Together with Xiao Luxi, Liu Fan, Jiang Yanmei and Tan Li Si, the female shuttlers triumphed in Vietnam for the country’s only team gold at the Games and only their third overall in the sport to date. 2004 In Athens at the 2004 Olympic Games, paddler Li Jiawei narrowly missed a medal after losing out to South Korea’s Kim Kyung-Ah in the women’s singles event for the bronze. In Singapore, the Singapore Sports School opened its doors and became the only education institution in the country that allows youths to enrol in an integrated academic and sports programme. The school aims to ensure student-athletes get the best of both worlds in a world-class environment. Notable alumni include Calvin Kang, Dipna Lim-Prasad, Tao Li, Kimberly Lim and Jazreel Tan. 2005 Singapore swimming’s golden girl Joscelin Yeo won her 40th SEA Games gold medal after she claimed the 50-metre freestyle in Manila, Philippines. The haul eclipsed countrywoman Patricia Chan’s 39 and remains a record to date in the competition’s history. Joscelin went to four Olympics in her 17-year competitive career – a length that is unmatched by any other local swimmer. 2006 Singapore sailors beat China in the Sailing medal table at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, winning 5 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals, making it Singapore’s best performance at the Asian Games ever. Griselda Khng, only sailor who missed out on a medal, went on to become the first Singaporean and second-ever Asian to win the Optimist Girls’ World Championship title in Uruguay a month later. 2007 Project 0812 was launched – a national initiative headed by Ng Ser Miang and the SNOC – with a single objective to bring Olympic glory to Singapore. Various stakeholders, government and non-government, helped prepare athletes from five sports – badminton, sailing, table tennis, swimming and shooting – in a quest to be successful at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. 2008 Singapore finally won an Olympic medal again after Tan Howe Liang’s weightlifting silver in 1960, as the women’s table tennis team of Li Jiawei, Feng Tianwei and Wang Yuegu made history in Beijing. Prime Minister Lee Hsieng Loong even postponed the broadcast of his English speech for the National Day Rally so Singaporeans could watch the team put up a credible fight against China in the final of the team event. Later that year, swimmer Yip Pin Xiu won Singapore’s first-ever Paralympics gold medal. 2009 Sasha Christian, who started swimming at one and skiing at three, tricked her way to becoming Asia’s best when she won the Asian Wakeboard Championships in Chuncheon, South Korea and brought home Singapore’s first gold medal at the tournament. 2010 Having beaten Moscow in the final vote, Singapore was handed the responsibility of staging the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. An estimated 3,600 athletes from 205 countries were hosted with 26 sports on offer. At the end of 15 days of competition, Singapore finished with two silver and five bronze medals, and was praised for pulling off the Games successfully. 2011 Discus legend James Wong won his ninth and final SEA Games gold in the event, having bagged his first one in 1993 to kickstart an era of remarkable dominance. Wong, who ended his career with 10 Games golds having picked up one more in the hammer, still holds the national records for both events. 2012 Singapore recorded its most successful Olympic Games outing winning two bronze medals in table tennis. Feng Tianwei claimed bronze in the women’s singles event and together with her team mates, Wang Yuegu and Li Jiawei, they won a bronze medal in the women’s team event against South Korea. 2013 Mok Ying Ren brought home Singapore’s first-ever marathon gold in the SEA Games when he overtook the front three with six kilometres to go in Naypyidaw, Myanmar. It ended a 30-year drought in running events for Singapore at the Games. Rower Saiyidah Aisyah also bagged a historic first individual gold for the country. 2014 Joseph Schooling clinched Singapore’s first-ever Commonwealth Games swimming medal by taking silver in the 100-metre butterfly. He then ended the nation’s 24-year medal drought in men’s swimming at the Asian Games later that year with bronze in the 200m butterfly – before topping that by striking gold in the 100m butterfly to bring home men’s first gold in 32 years. In Nanjing, sailors Bernie Chin and Samantha Yom won Singapore’s first Youth Olympics golds too. 2015 The SEA Games returned to Singapore for its 28th edition after a 22-year absence and the competition whipped up the sporting fervor in the nation. Our athletes received incredible support at every sport and venue, spurring Team Singapore to bag a record 84-gold haul amid their best-ever medal tally of 259. The likes of Shanti Pereira and Joseph Schooling shot to prominence as Singapore’s sports scene received a massive boost.
Lo's change of heart and mind While his 79th placing in Denmark was not good enough for Olympic qualification, Lo will have another bite at the cherry in the coming Asian Games. TNP PHOTO: KHALID BABA After finishing 79th at the World Championships, he no longer has the gold as his Asiad target Jonah Foong Aug 15, 2018 06:00 am It was only in January that national sailor Ryan Lo boldly declared his target of the gold medal at the Aug 18-Sept 2 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. But, after finishing 79th out of 165 competitors in last week's Sailing World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, the 21-year-old has had a moment of epiphany. He no longer has gold on his mind. This is in stark contrast to a year ago at the South-east Asia (SEA) Games, where he stated and met his target of gold in the individual and team events. Lo, who finished his National Service only last month, said: "For now, I just want to go back to the fundamentals and focus less on the results." "Coach (Nenad Viali) always tells me that if you practise well, the result will take care of itself naturally. "I just finished National Service so, for me, it's a clean slate and it's only upwards from here." While his 79th placing in Denmark was not good enough for Olympic qualification, Lo - who sails in the Laser Standard category - will have another bite at the cherry in the coming Asiad. With only one Olympic berth up for grabs at the regatta, it would seem that a gold would be necessary for qualification. But, with South Korean and 2014 Asiad gold medallist Ha Jeemin having qualified for the Tokyo Games after finishing 22nd in Aarhus last week, a silver will be good enough should Ha win the regatta. And Lo, who will be taking the next two years off to train full-time, is hoping that the reduced pressure will bode well for his Olympic hopes, with a top-10 finish at Tokyo 2020 being his ultimate goal. In addition to the mental shift, he has been working on his peripheral vision and multi-tasking for the past three weeks with sports psychologists from the Singapore Sport Institute. In between sets at the gym, the 1.78m-tall sailor partakes in mini-games using an interactive device, in which he tests his reflexes by tapping flashing lights on a large screen, while occasionally solving equations. To stimulate race conditions, he also plays games like chess and sudoku while on the stationary bike in the gym. For now, I just want to go back to the fundamentals and focus less on the results. Ryan Lo, Laser Standard sailor who will represent Singapore at the Asian Games Sailors have to strategise and react quickly while on the boat, owing to changing conditions like wind and currents. Said Lo: "We discussed with the psychologist and agreed that I needed to be quicker with my response times. "In Aarhus, I was going fast but I didn't look around often enough to see the other boats." With Singapore sailing bagging three golds, two silvers and two bronzes at the last Asiad in Incheon, South Korea, expectations are high for this year. And while Lo remains confident, he refuses to preoccupy himself with medal talk, saying: "The odds are good for a podium finish. "But the minimum target is just to keep things simple, perform to the best of my abilities, and trust myself and the team who are supporting me."
Schooling's at fight weight and off to work in Jakarta Joseph Schooling is pencilled in for five events at the Asian Games in Indonesia, which starts this Saturday. PHOTOS: TNP FILE, DBS Joseph Schooling is pencilled in for five events at the Asian Games in Indonesia, which starts this Saturday. PHOTOS: TNP FILE, DBS Team Singapore will for the first time enter the Asian Games with an Olympic champion, and the swimmer is 'dialled in' after the return of his Rio stroke Leonard Thomas Associate Editor Aug 16, 2018 06:00 am Joseph Schooling loves his food, and ably demonstrated it when he sank his teeth into yet another piece of the fatty meat with that sinful crust of skin. It was a break from his usual routine when we had lunch recently, falling under the 10 in the 90 per cent to 10 per cent eating ritual he has employed building towards the Asian Games, which officially opens on Saturday in Indonesia. The swimmer says he is ready and confident. "You gotta be. I hate losing," said Schooling. After 17 editions of the event, Team Singapore will for the first time enter this year's Asian Games with an Olympic champion in their ranks. Four years after his debut at the Games in Incheon, two years after handing "Michael Phelps a spanking (as one American journalist remarked to me)" when he stormed to gold in the men's 100m butterfly at the Rio Olympics, much has changed for Schooling. He is 23, and much more experienced as a professional athlete, but he says the excitement of competition never gets old. "I'm excited about the Asian Games. I'm excited about swimming," he said. "It's not just swimming. Sport in general is about goals. It is goal orientated, performance orientated. "I'm excited to be at fighting weight. I'm excited to feel my stroke come back to the way it should be, like before Rio. "Am I excited about swimming thousands and thousands of metres? No. "But I'm excited about the process leading up to the Asian Games and the perspective and the position I'm putting myself in now that I'm feeling this way again." Four years ago in South Korea, Schooling won gold in the 100m butterfly, silver in the 50m butterfly and bronze in the 200m butterfly. At this year's Asian Games, he is pencilled in for the 100m fly, 50m fly, 100m freestyle, and the 4x100m freestyle relay and 4x100m individual medley, and he is looking forward to showing off his talent for the first time in Indonesia. It is almost as if he breathes positivity when you talk to him, he was the same way in Rio two years ago. His confidence never wavered in the mixed zone when he talked after each of his swims, as if he could already picture what was going to happen in the 100m fly. He was hardly intimidated standing next to Phelps for the race, he touched the wall first at the 50m mark and when so many around the world expected the greatest of all time to reel him in, the Singaporean went even faster in the home stretch in one of the great swim sprints of all time, leaving the American, Hungary's Laszlo Cseh and Chad le Clos of South Africa to share second spot in a historic first of three silver medallists for a single event. Of course, the world record is important to me. Being world record-holder is sick. You want to solidify your position. But what's more important is getting better. If I get better, I get my shot at breaking the world record. Joseph Schooling, on cracking Michael Phelps' world record of 49.82sec in the 100m butterfly.
Schooling has one more semester at the University of Texas and will graduate with an economics degree. He says he will return here after that and make Singapore his base. "I've spoken to Gary (Tan, National Training Centre head coach) and Sonya (Porter, technical director), and there is a good possibility I'll come back and train here. They are excited, I am excited," he revealed. "Gary, Sonya and Stephan (Widmer, national head coach and performance director) have been doing a fantastic job, I trust them 100 per cent. "Eddie (Reese, University of Texas) was fantastic, but I've got to change it up. "Here I know everything's tailored to me, I've got everything I need to get to the next level. That played a huge role in me deciding to come back." His coaches have clearly been a big part of his preparation for the Asian Games. He's lost around seven kilogrammes with that 90 per cent and 10 per cent formula and he's been working on his hips to go faster. "The key phrase in swimming is stability through strength," he said. "I've leaned out. I don't look like a bodybuilder any more. "I've learnt a lot about my weaknesses rather than my strengths over the last couple of months. I've realised my coordination is ****. I've realised I haven't been using my hips. ENDORSEMENT DEALS "Swimming is a hip-propelled sport, people say legs, but it all starts from the hip down. I've worked on it and my stroke has never felt better." These days under profession he writes swimmer and with his professional status and Olympic achievement have come a slew of endorsement deals. There have been some here who have criticised Schooling, saying he is distracted, and that he should concentrate on swimming. Perhaps it is because we have never before had someone like him from our shores that we are so unfamiliar with what is usual practice for world-class athletes. It is the way for vaunted athletes in professional sport all over the world, and Schooling is once again showing Singapore how it is done and, hopefully, more will walk a similar path. They must first share his desire, though, because he is not satisfied and wants to go faster. "I've got one of my goals. What's left… staying on top, always pushing yourself," he said. "You always want to better yourself and that's why you practise. That's why I practise 6am to 10am, go back to practise 4.30pm to 7pm, not because I enjoy playing around in the water, or grinding out the yards. "Who enjoys putting themselves through that… No one. "But I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment, that feeling is addictive. Being sore, pushing yourself through a hard set and coming out after, all red and huffing and puffing, that's an addictive feeling. That's amazing. "I love that. I love the idea that I have more to give. I have a lot more to give. I'm not at my peak yet. Seeing how far I can go, how good I can become, that's the exciting part. Not because I have to get up at 5am in the morning. I hate that." Schooling is in a good place. He's dialled in, as the Americans would say, focused and ready for his next challenge. "I know my goals. I know what I want. I'm enjoying being back in shape. I'm enjoying being back at home with my parents. I'm enjoying experiencing new feels and new scenarios. "Of course, sometimes when you are tired the repetitiveness gets to you, but not for long. After a while, you snap out of it. "I'm happy. Happy to be home. Happy to be here." It is the worst of times for Schooling when he grinds it out in training, but the best of times may well lie ahead. There is his personal best of 50.39sec to beat in his pet event the 100m fly and Phelps' world record of 49.82 to crack. The world championships loom next year and all the time the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is drawing closer. But, right now, there is only one thing on his mind. He said: "I am not looking at 2020, I'm not thinking of 2020 right now. There is only one thing I am focused on right now. The Asian Games is all I'm thinking of right now." 10 questions with Joseph Schooling If you weren't a world-leading pro swimmer, what would you be? Golfer. Favourite restaurant in Florida,Texas and Singapore? Carrabas Italian (Florida), Rudy's BBQ (Texas), Roland's Seafood (Singapore). Favourite band? I don't have one. Ed Sheeran or The Weeknd? Ed Sheeran. If you were James Bond, who would you want to be your leading lady/love interest? Alessandra Ambrosio. What's your favourite song right now? I don't have a favourite song. My playlist changes frequently. Steak or ribs? Prawn mee or chicken rice? Steak and Prawn Mee. If it's a family outing and mum wants to go to a concert but dad wants a movie, and you have to make the choice, concert or movie? Movie. Which was the last movie where you cried? I don't cry at movies…! The worst line you have given a girl? You must be tired from running through my mind all night.
Schooling and swim mates win Team Singapore's first medal at the Asian Games By Low Lin Fhoong in Jakarta Nuria Ling/TODAY Men 4x200m Freestyle Final at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatics Centre in Jakarta on Monday (Aug 20). Team of Quah Zheng Wen (Left), Joseph Schooling (centre), Danny Yeo (right) and Jonathan Tan (not pictured). They won the bronze medal, setting a new National Record at 7min 14.15s in the process. Published 21 August, 2018 Updated 21 August, 2018 JAKARTA — After two days of near misses in the competition arena in Jakarta and Palembang, Team Singapore finally got its medal campaign going at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia on Monday (Aug 20). The men's 4x200m freestyle relay quartet of Quah Zheng Wen, Joseph Schooling, Danny Yeo, and Jonathan Tan clinched Singapore's first medal — a bronze — at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatics Centre. The relay team clocked a new national time of 7min 14.15sec, shaving almost four seconds off the previous best of 7min 18.14sec set at the 2015 SEA Games. Up against Asian giants Japan and China — featuring three-time Olympic gold medallist Sun Yang — Team Singapore knew they needed an element of surprise to better their rivals. That came in the form of teenage debutant Jonathan, as National Training Centre head coach Gary Tan handed the 16-year-old his first appearance at the Asian Games in the relay. United States-based swimmer Quah got the Singaporean quartet off to a flying start, as the 21-year-old led the team to third spot in the first leg of the 4x200m relay. Olympic champion Schooling kept up the pace in the second leg, as he held off a challenge from the South Koreans before veteran Yeo dived in to take over the third leg. In the last 200m, it was up to swimmer Jonathan to keep their medal hopes on track. With South Korea's Lee Hojoon taking the fight to the Singaporean teenager, Jonathan held off a late challenge and touched home third, to the delight of his senior teammates, who celebrated their triumph poolside with ecstatic whoops and high-fives. Japan took the gold in a new Games record time of 7min 5.17sec, while China settled for the silver after clocking 7min 5.45sec.
COACH'S WORDS IN HIS HEAD Looking a little dazed after winning a medal in the first race of his debut, Jonathan said: "On my last turn, I saw him (Lee) there, but I followed what my coach said, put my head down and raced towards the board. "It's my first Games… but my team got my back, and right before I jumped in, they were still shouting at me and spurring me on. They just took the stress off and I just gave it my best shot." Head coach Tan was delighted to see his faith in the young swimmer pay off, crediting the teenager for his tenacity and determination. "We knew that South Korea would take the fight to us and we kept it quiet and didn't put our order of swimmers out (till late). "No one expected Jonathan to be our last swimmer… I am very proud of him as he stepped it up and held his ground. Jonathan is a fighter. He has the tenacity and hunger, it was a risk (putting him in), but I knew he wouldn't back down." Swimming in his first race of the Asian Games, Schooling, is aiming for more on Tuesday as he kicks off his first individual event, the 50m freestyle, before taking on the 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly and other relay events. He said after the victory ceremony for the relay: "This is exactly how I want to start a meet. I'm very excited for the next four days. "This is exactly what we wanted, you can build on the momentum from tonight. The next few days are going to be up and down, it's not going be perfect, but this is a great start." TOUGH START There was joy, and also relief, for Quah, who has endured a disappointing campaign so far after finishing sixth in the 200m butterfly and 50m backstroke. The 21-year-old admitted that it has been a "tough start to the meet", but he is hopeful that there will be "more to come" in the next few days of competition in the pool. Yeo was part of the quartet which also comprised Pang Sheng Jun, Teo Zhen Ren and Clement Lim, when they were awarded the men's 4x200m freestyle bronze after the 2014 Asian Games, as third-placed South Korea was stripped of its medal due to a failed drugs test by swimmer Park Tae-Hwan. He said: "Being able to step on the podium is a definite plus for me. This is my third and most probably final Asian Games and it's nice as everyone put in the effort and we showed what Singapore can really do. We just fought right to the end." 'WE HAVE DEPTH' While the relay team could lose veteran Yeo after Jakarta, Tan is confident that Team Singapore's young athletes will be able to step up to the plate and work towards qualifying as a relay team for the World Championships and Olympics in 2020. He added: "We have depth, and this is the first time that two kids swam in the heats in the morning and qualified us for the final. "I'm really excited for the next two relay races, and I hope we can give a surprise to the big guys." The 4x200m freestyle relay record was the fourth national mark that the Singapore swimmers set in Jakarta after the women's 4x100m freestyle relay,15-year-old Gan Ching Hwee's record in the women's 1,500m, and 16-year-old Glen Lim's 800m freestyle record on Monday morning. Glen bettered his previous mark of 8min 15.08sec set at the Singapore National Swimming Championships in June after clocking 8min 11.59sec in the timed finals. The second day of the Asian Games swimming competition saw a neck-and-neck battle for supremacy in the pool between arch-rivals China and Japan, as the latter clinched four gold medals to level the medal tally with China at seven gold each. Chinese superstar Sun Yang was unstoppable in his quest to become the winningest swimmer at the Games, as he stormed home in a new Games record time of 7min 48.36sec in the 800m freestyle to claim his second gold in Jakarta, before adding a silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay. He will be aiming for more golds in the 400m and 1,500m freestyle this week to add to his five-gold haul from the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games.
Asian Games: Joseph Schooling wins Singapore's first gold in Indonesia in the 100m butterfly By Low Lin Fhoong in Jakarta Joseph Schooling stormed home in a new Games record time of 51.04sec in the men's 100m butterfly final on Wednesday (Aug 22) to finish in top spot. Published22 August, 2018 Updated 22 August, 2018 JAKARTA — National swimmer Joseph Schooling has won Team Singapore's first gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games, as the 23-year-old Olympic champion stormed home in a new Games record time of 51.04sec in the men's 100m butterfly final on Wednesday (Aug 22) to finish in top spot. Off to a flying start in the two-lap race, Schooling – the defending champion in the event – was unstoppable at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatics Centre, as he led the race from the start to clinch gold ahead of his rivals. China's Li Zhuhao won the silver in 51.46sec, while Yuki Kobori of Japan claimed the bronze after clocking 51. 77sec. Schooling's gold is the second medal that Team Singapore has won at the Indonesia Asian Games, after the men's 4x200m freestyle relay team of Quah Zheng Wen, Schooling, Danny Yeo, and Jonathan Tan clinched a bronze on Monday.
Photo of the day: (From left) Li Zhuhao of China, Singapore's Joseph Schooling and Yuki Kobori of Japan posing with their medals at a 2018 Asian Games awards ceremony. Schooling won Team Singapore's first gold medal at the Games in Indonesia as the 23-year-old Olympic champion stormed home in a new Games record time of 51.04 sec in the men's 100m butterfly final. Published23 August, 2018
Asian Games: Joseph Schooling retains 100m butterfly title, bronze for men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team Joseph Schooling won the Asian Games men's 100m butterfly title in 51.04sec at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Centre in Jakarta on Aug 22, 2018.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM Joseph Schooling won the Asian Games men's 100m butterfly title in 51.04 at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Centre in Jakarta on Aug 22, 2018.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM (Left to riight) Quah Zheng Wen, Joseph Schooling, Darren Lim and Darren Chua posing with their bronze medals from the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay final at the 18th Asian Games in Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Centre, Jakarta, Indonesia, on Aug 22, 2018.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM Joseph Schooling won the Asian Games men's 100m butterfly title in 51.04 at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Centre in Jakarta on Aug 22, 2018.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM Joseph Schooling won the Asian Games men's 100m butterfly title in 51.04 at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Centre in Jakarta on Aug 22, 2018.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM Joseph Schooling in action during the men’s 100m butterfly heats at the 18th Asian Games in Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Centre, Jakarta, Indonesia, on Aug 22, 2018.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM Published
Aug 22, 2018, 10:22 am SGT Updated 4 hours ago Nicole Chia cnicole@sph.com.sg SINGAPORE - Joseph Schooling loves nothing more than being No. 1 in everything, and Singapore's first Olympic champion was at it again on Wednesday (Aug 22). Not only did he touch the wall before anyone else in the 100m butterfly final to retain his title and claim the Republic's first gold at the 18th Asian Games, but he was also the first to end the China-Japan stranglehold in Jakarta. Both countries had won every other swimming gold on offer until Schooling's win ensured a new national anthem was heard for the first time at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Centre. The 23-year-old set a Games record time of 51.04 seconds - breaking the previous mark of 51.76 he posted at the 2014 Incheon edition - and celebrated by pumping his fist and raising his index finger. He said: "I was just looking at the position next to my name and I was glad to see the No. 1. The time was okay, there are certain things I did well, certain things I didn't do too well, but it's all about getting your hand on the wall first and hearing Majulah Singapura being played." China's Li Zhuhao (51.46) and Japan's Yuki Kobori (51.77) filled the podium, with Singaporean Quah Zheng Wen (52.54) in fourth. The cheers that greeted Schooling as he stepped up on the lane 4 block rivalled those which home favourite Glenn Victor Sutanto received, and the Singaporean later waved to a group of 10 Indonesian fans calling "Joseph! Joseph!" from the balcony above. He said: "I definitely wanted to be the first person to give everyone a chance to hear our national anthem, so having done that, I feel very proud and happy - mission accomplished for today. "Big event tomorrow which I'm excited about... It's something to build on going into the next two days." He competes in the 50m fly today, in which he bagged a silver four years ago. He owns the current Asian record of 22.93. He was also part of the 4x100m freestyle relay team, together with Quah, Darren Chua and Darren Lim, who finished third on Wednesday night, and is also pencilled in for tomorrow's 4x100m medley relay. (From left) Darren Chua, Quah Zheng Wen, Joseph Schooling and Darren Lim securing bronze medal in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay final at the 18th Asian Games in Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Centre, Jakarta, Indonesia, on Aug 22, 2018. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM It has been a tumultuous period for Schooling, with his results and form dipping after his historic win at the 2016 Rio Olympics. But he believes the "up and down" nature of the last two years are part of the cycle and that he is headed in the right direction leading up to next year's world championships in Gwangju and Tokyo 2020. Schooling, whose options for competing as a professional include the US Pro Swim Series, the Mare Nostrum swimming series and some European meets, said: "You can't always be in tip-top performance but what's important is if you're not feeling your best, step up, grind it through and try to win your race - that's what defines a champion. "There are always going to be critics out there. If everyone's on your side and praising you, it might get to your head, but I think this is a great check and balance for me. Proving my critics wrong gives me more motivation to go to practice, to race harder... that's what I love doing." Li had been ranked top in Asia this year with his 51.77 effort, while Kobori was second (51.82). Schooling's only 100m fly time of 52.43, clocked at the Singapore National Swimming Championships in June, had placed him ninth. None of that matters now though as Schooling returns to familiar territory. At the top.
Asian Games 2018: Jakarta & Palembang, Aug 18-Sept 2 Asian Games: Second relay bronze sees Singapore's swimmers match feat at 1986 Asiad (From left) Joseph Schooling, Quah Zheng Wen, Darren Chua and Darren Lim (in water) securing the 4x100m freestyle relay bronze at the Gelora Bung Karno Aquatic Centre in Jakarta last night. Singapore last won two relay medals at the Seoul Asiad in 1986.ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM Published 9 hours ago Nicole Chia In Jakarta It takes something special to repeat a feat last achieved over three decades ago, but that was exactly what Singapore's 4x100m freestyle men's relay team did after they finished third in yesterday's final. Trailing in sixth after the first 50m, the quartet of Quah Zheng Wen, Joseph Schooling, Darren Chua and Darren Lim battled back to claim the bronze medal in a national record of 3min 17.22sec. Japan (3:12.68) won in a Games mark ahead of China (3:13.29). This was the Republic's second relay medal after a bronze in the men's 4x200m free relay on Monday. They last won two relay medals in 1986 in Seoul, coincidentally bronzes in the same events. Chua, the youngest of the four at 18, was delighted to claim some silverware on his Games debut: "(I was) very excited to race with the boys and I raced my heart out to help Singapore win the medal." Quah, also competing in his first Games, added: "I'm really happy these guys stepped it up and I couldn't be happier to have such great team-mates." National head coach and performance director Stephan Widmer hailed the feat as "something exceptional" and said: "Two nights when the nation won a medal in relays - that doesn't happen any day or at any Asian Games, so this is special. "What I hope comes from this is from here on, all the kids - swimmers on our team now and at home - saying 'I want to be a part of this'." The previous mark of 3:17.85 was set at the last SEA Games by Schooling, Quah, Lim and Danny Yeo. Lim, Chua, Yeo and Jonathan Tan, 16, had swam yesterday's morning heats and finished third overall in 3:20.16. Noting the latter two had "assisted in one of the most important jobs", Widmer said: "Six people together... I want this to be eight (or) 12, I want people to be competitive and pushing for our relay spots. "Relays can sometimes get in the way for an individual and we want to start them thinking, 'Hang on, this is an opportunity for me as well'." On the order of last night's relay - Chua and Lim, the least experienced, swam the final two legs - Widmer said he wanted to expose them to the pressure at this level. "They said they haven't felt anything like this before," he said. "You can't read this in a book, you can't practise this at our national championships, the only reality where you can practise is out here and these guys have done a tremendous job." In the women's 200m fly, Quah Jing Wen finished fifth in a national record of 2:12.01, bettering her 2:12.03 set at last year's SEA Games.
Asian Games: Singapore women's foil team clinch bronze Team SG fencer Maxine Wong. (Photo: Amir Yusof) By Amir Yusof @AmirYusofCNA 23 Aug 2018 01:12PM (Updated: 23 Aug 2018 06:14PM) JAKARTA: Singapore’s women's foil team secured the country’s first fencing medal at the 2018 Asian Games on Thursday (Aug 23) after beating Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals. The team - which comprised of Amita Berthier, Maxine Wong, Tatiana Wong and Melanie Huang - defeated Chinese Taipei 45-19 to clinch a joint bronze medal as there is no playoff for third and fourth place. However, the team lost to China 14-45 in the semi-final on Thursday afternoon, denying them the chance to battle for a gold medal. The quartet were outmatched by their Chinese opponents, who are each ranked at least 85 places higher in the world senior rankings. The Singapore team’s medal in Jakarta is country's second ever fencing medal at an Asian Games after Lim Wei Wen bagged the bronze in the men’s epee event in Incheon in 2014. It is also Singapore's first women's fencing medal ever at the Asian Games. Speaking to the media after the defeat to China, Amita, 17, said the experience in Jakarta "has been amazing", both for her individually and as a team. After her disappointing round of 16 exit in the individual foil category on Monday (Aug 20), she was delighted to have won a medal. "I'm happy that I managed to redeem myself in a way by helping the team and just doing what I have to do for my team-mates and keeping the spirits up and eventually it paid off," she said. "I'm going back to Singapore with an Asian Games medal in my bag and I'm really happy about that. I think it's a good way to close off our Asian Games, together as a team." Amita is confident that Singapore's foil team have the potential to qualify for the Olympics. "I think they're working towards 2024 to 2028 when we're much older and have more experience, and have competed more. It's just a matter of time before we will be able to overcome the stronger countries," she said. In a press statement on Thursday afternoon, Fencing Singapore president Juliana Seow lauded the foil team's success, saying the quartet have "demonstrated grit and fabulous team spirit going into the 2018 Asian Games". Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...ens-fencing-foil-team-minimum-bronze-10643940
Asian Games: Women foil fencers win first-ever team medal for Singapore By Low Lin Fhoong in Jakarta Nuria Ling / TODAY Team Singapore's Amita Berthier taking on Chinese Taipei's Cheng Hsin in the women's team foil quarterfinals in Jakarta on Thursday, August 23. Published23 August, 2018 Updated 23 August, 2018 JAKARTA — Loud rap music blasting over her headphones, fencer Amita Berthier had her game face on as she walked out onto the competition piste at the Jakarta Convention Centre for the women's foil team quarterfinal against Taiwan. After missing out on the individual foil medal this week, the teenager was not about to be distracted from her goal – and the women's team's target – here in Jakarta. This, despite the team missing the services of 2018 World Junior (U20) championships silver medallist Nicole Wong, who was unable to compete due to injury. Team Singapore's women's foil fencers had not been able to win a medal at the last three editions of the Asiad, finishing fifth in 2006, 2010, and again in Incheon, South Korea, in 2014. But there was no disappointment this time, as the quartet of Amita, Maxine Wong, Tatiana Wong, and Melanie Huang defeated Taiwan 45-19 in the quarterfinal to secure Singapore's first-ever team medal at the Asian Games. With world No.130 Amita leading the women, the 17-year-old went out on the offensive from the get-go, routing Lei Yuru 5-1 in the first bout. With only a two-point cushion (8-6) after the fourth bout, the fearless teenager – who won the SEA Games individual foil gold last year – racked up 17 points against Yang Chinman to take the score to 28-5 in a defeat that left the Taiwanese in tears. With Maxine and Tatiana taking the score to 40-14 after the eighth bout, it was left to Amita to wrap up matters on the piste, as she beat Cheng in the final round to notch a 45-19 victory for Team Singapore. Unleashing a primal shriek as she pumped her fist in celebration, Amita was embraced by her teammates after their historic achievement. "This is a milestone in each of our careers… we have great chemistry as a team even though we only competed together twice," said Amita. "I felt I had a role to play in this situation (against Taiwan in the fifth bout). My coach said if I could take the score to (the maximum) 25, I should just do it." Maxine, 17, who had missed out on an individual medal after she was beaten by Korea's Jeon Hee Sook in the quarterfinal, added: "I'm very happy with how I did in the individual event, and this made it even sweeter, and it's a bonus to win a team medal." Up against defending silver medalists China in the semi-finals, the Singaporeans lost out to their quicker, more experienced opponents, as the Chinese cruised to a 45-14 victory to earn a spot in the final. But the team had no regrets, as Amita said: "It's unfortunate that we met China. We gave it our best. I'm happy that I redeemed myself (after the individual event) by helping the team. "I'm going back to Singapore with an Asian Games medal in my bag, and that's a great way to close the Asian Games." Ms Juliana Seow, president of Fencing Singapore, paid tribute to the young fencers' – the foil team comprise three teenagers and Huang, who is 34 – "grit and fabulous team spirit" on Thursday. "Besides demonstrating that we have a good depth in our women's foil team pipeline, the result also gives us a much needed encouragement that we are on the right track as a community, especially following our recent launch of the Fencing Singapore Olympic Pathway Programme in June," she said. As Singapore fencing works towards its goal of qualifying athletes for the Olympic Games, the women's foil team is hopeful that they will be the ones to create history for Singapore in the future. Amita added: "It may not be at the 2020 Olympic Games, but we are working towards competing in 2024 and 2028."
Asian Games: Bowlers win Singapore's second medal with bronze in women's trios Joey Yeo was part of the women's trio team that clinched bronze for Team Singapore on Wednesday (Aug 22). (Photo: SportSG) 22 Aug 2018 06:50PM (Updated: 22 Aug 2018 06:50PM) PALEMBANG: Team Singapore won their second medal at the Asian Games on Wednesday (Aug 22) after its bowlers finished third in the women's trio event at the Jakabaring Bowling Centre. The team consisting of Daphne Tan, Bernice Lim and Joey Yeo scored 4250 pinfalls to clinch the bronze medal. Malaysia's team of Esther Cheah, Siti Safiyah Amirah and Syaidatul Afifah took the gold medal with 4326 pinfalls, while Chinese Taipei's Pan Yu Fen, Chou Chia Chen and Tsai Hsin Yi took silver with 4255 pinfalls. Singapore's other team in the event, consisting of Jazreel Tan, Cherie Tan and Shayna Ng came in ninth with 3936 pinfalls. The bronze is Singapore's second of the Asian Games. The men's 4x200m freestyle relay team comprising Joseph Schooling, Quah Zheng Weng, Danny Yeo and Jonathan Tan also won a bronze medal on Monday. Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/sport/asian-games-bowling-womens-trios-bronze-10641214
Asian Games: Singapore’s Roanne Ho clinches surprise silver in 50m breaststroke Singapore's Roanne Ho celebrates during the victory ceremony for the women’s 50m breaststroke swimming event during the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta on Aug 23, 2018. (Photo: AFP / Martin BUREAU) By Amir Yusof@AmirYusofCNA 23 Aug 2018 07:42PM(Updated: 23 Aug 2018 09:49PM) JAKARTA: Singapore's Roanne Ho won a silver medal in the 50m breaststroke at the 2018 Asian Games on Thursday (Aug 23), clocking 31.23s to break her own national record by 0.06s. She finished behind Japan’s Satomi Suzuki, who touched the wall at 30.83s. China's Feng Junyang took the bronze. Ho had the third-fastest timing, but took the silver after Japan's Miho Teramura was later disqualified. It was seen as a surprise win for Ho given that she had finished sixth in the heats on Thursday morning, clocking 31.59s. The 25-year-old has made a remarkable comeback since suffering from a life-threatening collapsed lung in January 2016, forcing her to take a months-long break from training. Speaking to reporters after the race, Ho joked: "The term comeback queen (for me) is very apt. Three days ago I had a very bad stomach flu ... To be here this morning (contesting at the heats), I'm very thankful for that." This is Ho's third Asian Games, and she attributes her achievement at this year's edition to hard work. I think there was a change in attitude. In 2014, I went there mostly as a participant. I didn't really aim for anything. None of us really dreamt of an individual medal at the Asian Games. When Joseph (Schooling) did it (in 2014), everyone was like, hey, you can get a medal ... so coming here this year I had a new purpose, I didn't want to just be a participant at the final," she said. "I slowly learnt to believe in myself. People used to tell me - you can (get a medal) maybe at the next Asian Games. But talk is cheap, it's very easy to say these things. So when I started getting better and training harder, I started to see that hey, maybe this could happen," Ho added. Her win gave Singapore's women swimmers their first medal in Jakarta. WOMEN'S RELAY TEAM SNAG BRONZE Following Ho's race, the Singapore women's 4x100m medley relay team produced yet another surprise result when they clinched the bronze. The team finished the race fifth, but they were later awarded third after favourites China and South Korea were disqualified. The quartet of Quah Ting Wen, Quah Jing Wen, Samantha Yeo and Hoong En Qi clocked 4:09.65s on Thursday night. Japan won gold in 3:54.73s while Hong Kong bagged silver in 4:03.15. Earlier in the evening, Singapore Olympic champion Joseph Schooling clinched his second gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games after winning the 50m butterfly final.
