Singapore earned its first silver medal and added one more bronze on Sunday morning at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar.
The nation's wushu athletes rose to the occasion at the Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium, with Tan Yan Ni finishing second in her changquan event and the men's duilian (barehand) pair of Lee Tze Yuan and Yong Yi Xiang narrowly missing out on silver as well.
Games debutant Tan, 17, said she was lucky to achieve her runners-up score of 9.60 as she had headed to the competition 'not expecting much'.
The Republic Polytechnic student was in fact nervous over a minor ankle sprain sustained two days ago, but managed to pull off her jumps and landings to perfection for her first major medal after six years in the national setup.
Earlier, Tan's teammates Lee Tze Yuan and Yong Yi Xiang came agonisingly close to matching her feat, with their score of 9.47 in the men's duilian (barehand) just 0.01 point off Malaysia's silver medal spot.
It was a bittersweet bronze for Lee, who told Yahoo he had been confident of their chances in a field of four teams, especially after executing their game plan to a T.
His partner, Yong, later competed in the gunshu and finished sixth after a botched landing had the 20-year-old wobbling to keep his balance.
He limped off the stage and was immediately attended to by the team doctor, who revealed that Yong had likely aggravated an existing injury to his left knee ligament.
Coach Yang Ning said he was aware of Yong's condition but also confident enough to gamble on his fitness over five events at the SEA Games - more than any other Singapore wushu athlete.
'It's a dull pain throughout, then the adrenaline takes over when I'm performing,' said Yong. 'But I could have done better mentally.'
Up north at the Zayar Thiri complex, Singapore's basketball men fell to a 59-69 defeat by Thailand despite outscoring their opponents in the first and final quarter.
The two countries met again hours later, but this time in water polo, and the Lion City continued their regional dominance with a hard-fought 8-5 victory.
Team manager Samuel Wong said, via Facebook, that 'the Thais displayed great resistance, denying Singapore countless attacks'.
'The (Singapore) team never looked right from the start... A salute to the Thais for a brilliant game,' he added.
Catch all the action at the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar here on Yahoo Sports.
No comments:
Post a Comment