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SEA Games 2023: S'pore win table tennis team gold with 1st all-local squad since 1973

Swimmers finish up competition with 3 more golds, as wushu athletes and fencers bring in two golds apiece

Singapore's all-local-born men's paddlers (left) clinched the team gold, with 16-year-old Izaac Quek (right) earning the winning point against Malaysia. (PHOTOS: SportSG/Alfie Lee)
Singapore's all-local-born men's paddlers (left) clinched the SEA Games team gold, with 16-year-old Izaac Quek (right) earning the winning point against Malaysia. (PHOTOS: SportSG/Alfie Lee)

SINGAPORE — With the SEA Games swimming competition coming to an end, Singapore athletes from other sports came to the fore to continue the medal hunt on Thursday (11 May).

At the Morodok Techo Table Tennis Hall, Singapore's male paddlers regained the team event gold which they last won at the 2015 Games, as they beat Malaysia 3-0 in the final.

With the team consisting of Clarence Chew, Koen Pang, Izaac Quek, Beh Kun Ting and Ethan Poh, this is the first time since 1973 that Singapore has won this event with an all-local squad.

Singapore had won seven men's team golds between 1999 and 2015 with a mix of China-born and local-born players.

In the final, Chew open accounts by coming from a set down to defeat Leong Chee Feng 8-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-6. Pang extended Singapore's lead to 2-0 after beating Javen Choong 11-4, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8.

That set up a titanic battle for the winning point in the third singles, as Quek - who had shone in the recent WTT Singapore Smash tournament - faced Wong Qi Shen.

The 16-year-old, who is already Southeast Asia's highest-ranked player at world No.68, took five sets before finally subduing Wong 11-9, 12-14, 11-13, 11-9, 11-7 to seal the gold medal.

In the women's event, Singapore shared the bronze with Vietnam, after losing in the semi-finals to eventual winners Thailand on Wednesday.

Singapore's wushu gold medallists Kimberly Ong and Jowen Lim at the 2023 SEA Games. (PHOTOS: SNOC/Lim Weixiang)
Singapore's wushu gold medallists Kimberly Ong and Jowen Lim at the 2023 SEA Games. (PHOTOS: SNOC/Lim Weixiang)

Two golds from wushu, two golds from fencing

At the Chroy Changvar Convention Center Hall A, Jowen Lim and Kimberly Ong won the first two wushu golds for Singapore in Phnom Penh.

Lim, 24, emerged triumphant in the men's daoshu/gunshu competition, winning the gold he last won in 2017 with a score of 19.386 points. Indonesia's Edgar Xavier Marvelo (19.382 points) and Seraf Naro Siregar (19.373 points) claimed the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Shortly after, 20-year-old Ong retained the women's daoshu/gunshu gold medal she won in Hanoi last year, scoring 19.206 points to pip compatriot Zoe Tan (19.043 points) over two days of competition. Vietnam's Hoang Thi Phuong Giang (18.933 points) took home the bronze.

Later on at Hall B of the same venue, Singapore's fencers also began their competition with two golds, one silver and one bronze.

The first final was an all-Singaporean affair, as debutant Juliet Heng defeated Jessica Ong 15-8 in the women's individual sabre to become the first Singaporean to win the event since Lau Ywen in 2017.

Then in the men's individual epee final, 19-year-old Si To Jian Tong - who was included in the SEA Games squad only after veteran Samson Lee was dropped for missing three training sessions - clinched gold by defeating the Philippines' Jose Noelito Garcia 15-11.

This is Singapore's very first gold in the event, after previous silver-medal efforts by Ronald Tan (1987, 1989), James Wong (1991) and Lim Wei Wen (2007 and 2015).

Swimmers add another 3 golds to end with 22 for the Games

The Singapore swimmers were not done with winning golds yet, as they earned three more golds in the final evening of competition.

Gan Ching Hwee retained her women's 800m freestyle gold, clocking a personal-best 8min 41.05sec to win the long race ahead of compatriot Ashley Lim (8:46.88) and Vietnam's Vo Thi My Tien (8:56.07). This is Gan's fourth gold of the Games.

Ong Jung Yi, on the other hand, won his first gold of the Games when he touched the wall first in the men's 200m butterfly final. He clocked 1:59.44 to finish ahead of Thailand's Navaphat Wongcharoen (1:59.64) and Vietnam's Nguyen Duy Khoa Ho (2:00.60).

Finally, the women's 4x100m medley team of Faith Khoo, Letitia Sim, Quah Jing Wen and Quah Ting Wen smashed the Games record to win gold in 4:06.97, easily beating the Philippines (4:11.81) and Thailand (4:14.06).

In total, the Singapore swimmers have amassed 22 golds, 15 silvers and 10 bronzes in Phnom Penh, by far the top Southeast Asia nation in swimming.

Meanwhile, diver Max Lee - who was the youngest Singapore athlete at last year's Hanoi Games - clinched a bronze medal in the men's 10m platform event, scoring 362.80 points.

Singapore's Soh Rui Yong celebrates earning a silver medal in the men's 10,000m event. (PHOTO: SNOC/Lim Weixiang)
Singapore's Soh Rui Yong celebrates earning a silver medal in the men's 10,000m event. (PHOTO: SNOC/Lim Weixiang)

Soh Rui Yong wins men's 10,000m silver in national record

At the Morodok Techo National Stadium, two-time men's marathon gold medallist Soh Rui Yong clinched a silver medal in the men's 10,000m, breaking his own national record in clocking 31min 10.70sec. He thus ended Singapore's 40-year wait for a medal in the event, after Jagtar Singh won bronze in 1983.

This was the 31-year-old's first SEA Games medal since his second marathon gold in 2017, as he was not chosen for subsequent editions due to disputes with SNOC.

There were also bronze medals on the track for Calvin Quek, who clocked a national-record 50.75sec in the men's 400m hurdles, and Goh Chui Ling, who came in third in the women's 800m in 2:09.15 to add to her 1,500m bronze.

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