S'pore continues momentum at SEA Games on day 3
By Satish Cheney
Singapore's promising start at the 26th SEA Games continued on Sunday with more medals in the bag.
It ended the day with 13 gold medals in its tally.
The swim team won two gold medals at the aquatic centre in Palembang which was witnessed by some 4,000 spectators.
Tao Li's team had a smooth and easy victory in the 4x200m freestyle relay event while Danny Yeo won gold in the 200m freestyle competition.
It was disappointment for Joseph Schooling though who was tipped to win the gold medal in the 100m butterfly after winning the 50m butterfly on Saturday.
The-16-year-old had to settle for bronze, clocking 53.18 seconds, which nevertheless is a new national record.
Head coach Ang Peng Siong told Yahoo! Singapore he was happy with Schooling's performance.
"He did break the national and under-17 records, and also attained his personal best. He’s definitely still aiming to qualify for the Olympics. He’s young and ultimately his target is the Olympics in Rio in 2016. He’s racing against some of the most experienced swimmers since it’s his first SEA Games. And I’m sure he didn’t give his competitors an easy time in the water," said Ang.
Tao Li's failure to win any medal in the 200m breaststroke didn't seem to faze her, though it does put a dent in her hopes of garnering nine gold medals at the games.
Ang said he was not disappointed with Tao Li as she is having a tough schedule with races almost back to back.
Both Tao Li and Joseph Schooling were among those who suffered from food poisoning on Saturday.
But their team manager told Yahoo! Singapore before the start of the finals that they had recovered and were raring to go.
There are four more days of swimming events and the team will be hoping to surpass their initial target of 12 gold medals.
Singapore's national anthem was also played at the gymnastics venue after the women's team successfully defended its title in the team event.
In the English Billiards singles, Peter Gilchrist defended his title
Meanwhile, around the banks of Java's Lake Cipule, Singapore's Stephanie Chen and Suzanne Seah won gold in the women's 200m K2 event.
The duo told Yahoo! Singapore that they were dedicating the gold medal to their coach Balázs Babella.
"Even though we lost in the K2 500m the previous day, our coach had faith in us and believed we could win this," said Chen.
Day 2 gold medalist Geraldine Lee bagged a silver in the women's 200m K1 final.
The women's team won silver in the 200m K4 event while Clarence Chua and Brandon Ooi managed a bronze in the 200m K2 category.
In badminton, the women's team automatically clinched the bronze medal after losing to Thailand in the semi-finals.
There was also good news for the roller sports team.
Rebecca Chew won the bronze in the women’s 1500m while Lim June Liang finished 5th in the men’s 1500m.
"The past year has been a great experience and I hope roller sports will continue to grow and gain greater exposure in Singapore after this SEA Games," said Chew.
In Jakarta, it will be an all-Singapore final for Monday's mixed doubles table tennis event after the country's paddlers defeated Thailand and Vietnam in the semi-finals at the Gelanggang Mahasiswa Soemantri Brojonegoro Centre.
The long time pairing of Feng Tianwei and Gao Ning proved too strong for Vietnam as they fell in three straight sets — 11-6, 11-9 and 12-10.
“We started a bit slow in the first round, but got better with the second and third,” said Feng, who last faced the Vietnamese in 2009 in Laos.
“The Vietnamese players have improved since two years ago and the standard we played at is higher too,” she added.
Feng is also looking forward to a clean sweep of the competition over the next two days when she and Sun Beibei will compete in the women’s doubles, and later in the singles, alongside Isabelle Li and Zena Sim.
Yang Zi and Sun Beibei, who made their debut as a pair on Sunday morning, defeated their Thai opponents 11-1, 9-11, 11-2, 11-3.
Additional reporting by Jeanette Tan in Jakarta
