Surprise SEA Games gold, silver from bridge
REPORTING FROM JAKARTA
Singapore’s bridge players in Palembang delivered a surprise gold and silver to add to the nation’s SEA Games tally on Sunday.
The duo of Seet Choon Cheng and Tan Yoke Lan emerged from behind in the final few rounds, turning on their counterparts and winning the gold medal in the women’s open pairs.
The gold medal is extra special for 63-year-old Tan Yoke Lan as she had postponed her breast cancer treatment in Singapore to take part in the SEA Games.
In the men’s open pairs, Loh Choon Chou and Poon Hua clinched the silver medal, although team manager Zhang Yukun felt that they could have also pipped hosts Indonesia to the gold.
“They could have done better, but we’re happy they’re doing their best… their opponents played pretty well,” said Zhang.
He told Yahoo! Singapore that the team of bridge players are amateurs, unlike the Indonesians, who play the strategic card game full-time.
“They totally deserve the success they have achieved,” he said. “They’ve trained very hard. Most of them have a full-time job, and give up their personal time in the evenings, sometimes training until 1am,” he added.
Meanwhile, over at the Jakabaring Aquatics Complex, Singapore's synchronised swimmers have delivered another silver medal, with Stephanie Chen and Crystal Yap coming in second place for the duet free routine.
This is only the second time synchronised swimming is being featured at the SEA Games.
And in Jakarta’s Jaya Ancol Bowling Centre, Singapore kegler Cherie Tan swept gold for Singapore in the women's stepladder final, eclipsing runner up Sharon Koh from Malaysia by 125 pinfalls.
Team manager Melvin Lim said Tan, who has three gold medals now, was "untouchable".
"Cherie was very focused today and she had a dream start with a great lead in the first game," said Lim.
He added that he's satisfied with the performance of the keglers.
"Last SEA Games, we had 3 gold and 1 bronze. This time we have 3 golds, 2 silvers and 2 bronze medals. So we've done better than the last SEA Games," said Lim.
In the men’s masters, Ng Tiac Pin bowled a perfect game in Sunday’s second block, taking a leap up from 13th position to fifth. He was unable to maintain his performance, however, and finished the masters in sixth place, with teammate Keith Saw in 10th.
Singapore Bowling Federation president Jessie Phua said, “From a medal standpoint, our boys didn’t do very well but the skill sets are there. For our five debutantes, their performance was very good. For Keith Saw, he doesn’t look nervous at all. I think I was more nervous for him! He put up a good performance throughout this competition.”
With additional reporting by Satish Cheney
