By Les Tan/Red Sports
Catch highlights of Kang Yee Cher running in Episode 17 of RedSportsTV.
Kang Yee Cher of Fuhua Primary School in action during the 100m semifinal heat yesterday. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Bishan Stadium, Tuesday, July 3, 2007 – An unbelieveably fast 9-year-old Primary Three student has been burning up the tracks at the 48th National Inter-Primary Track & Field Championship held at Bishan Stadium.
Kang Yee Cher of Fuhua Primary School hit the tape in 12.69s in the 100m D-Boys Semifinal yesterday afternoon. In fact, he had gone even faster in the 100m heats last Wednesday, 27 June, crossing the finishing line in a new championship record of 12.48s. How fast is that? As a comparison, that is faster than the American record of 12.71s for the 9-10 years of age (Bantam) category according to the USA Track & Field (USATF) web site. His time is also faster than the UK U-13 record of 12.5s.
Showing a startlingly well-developed body for a 9-year-old, Kang Yee Cher finished his semifinal 100m almost two seconds ahead of his closest challenger. In yesterday’s heat, Ong Sin Yao of Kong Hwa School finished behind him in second spot with a time of 14.56s. The winner of the second 100m semifinal heat, Lucas Lee, finished in 14.5s.
In this afternoon’s 4x100m relay heats, Yee Cher received the baton as the anchor runner about 5 metres behind the leading runner. However, he erased that deficit and blew his opponent away to finish first with metres to spare.
If we do in fact have a world-class sprinter living right here on our little red dot of an island, you read it here first on Red Sports. And someone, please make sure the Indochina-born boy has Singapore citizenship quick. He might be gone in a flash.
Kang Yee Cher waits beside another 9-year-old from Lianhua Primary in the 4x100m relay heats. Both were anchor runners. (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Yee Cher blitzes the field in the 100m heats yesterday, leaving his challengers far behind. (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
i think that he could help fuhua primary school forn having more medal because this is the last year he is in fuhua primary school
I dun knoe what to say sia!!!!! To fast liao! KANG YEE CHER!!! RUN SUPER FAST! But in that photo…U look nerd. HAHA!
W0w thats fast! Kang Yee Cher R0cKZ Man! He Runs super fast!
I’d think that parents juz can’t stand the fact that their kids simply lost out to others of the same age.
1 word: Losers with loser mentality and add jealousy to top it all off~
[…] stories: World-class 9-year-old sprinter right here in Singapore? Kang Yee Cher stands heads and shoulders above the rest. (Photo 2 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports) Kang […]
Singapore is supposedly well-known for our efficiency, TRANSPARENCY and reliability in most everything we do as a people, as a nation. We have been officially ranked highly as a nation. So, when a supposedly 9 year old Singaporean boy returned an official time that is better than any other boy of similar age in the whole WIDE WORLD of 100 metre sprint…WHAT WOULD YOU CALL THAT??? An unofficial world record. Even here on Redsports, I’ve noticed that many visitors from numerous countries have clicked on to the reports. Some may be from their press and media. What everyone is probably checking for is whether he is REALLY, TRULY, 100 % a 9 year old kid. No one has and no one should criticise or condemn that innocent boy.
BUT, the people who should respond in a forthright manner that should be as CLEAR AS DAYLIGHT did not do so, has not done so. The newspaper…S Times, Sunday Times etc..READ THE REPORT CAREFULLY!!
The reporters asked the family( parents ) for an interview…but they declined. The Principal of Yio Chu Kang Pri School, the Org Chairman of the Meet, was asked by the reporters this: ” Who confirmed he is 9 years old? And what were the documents that were produced to confirm his age? ”
Simple, straight-forward questions……THAT SHOULD HAVE CRYSTAL_CLEAR ANSWERS , right? WRONG!!! Again, the Principal declined to comment!!!
So, if any one inside Singapore or outside, is asking WHY CAN’T the family, the school or powers that be, simply produce an acceptable, authenticated document such as a S’pore Birth Cert or a Statutory Declaration to prevent any unwarranted accusations of” cheating” by anyone, no one would be surprised.
But THIS HAS NOT BEEN DONE YET!
NO BLACK AND WHITE CLARIFICATION HAS BEEN PRODUCED BY ANYONE YET TO THE PRESS AND PUBLIC.
As a matter of fact, 2 doctors who are specialists, have agreed that ONLY A BONE SCAN can confirm his actual age( Press reports).
If he is REALLY 9 years old……WHY ON EARTH DOES NO ONE SIMPLY PRODUCE HIS BIRTH CERT as a start? Why this secretive, evasive actions as reported so far?
Red Coach Dick Yip
Hey. stop saying about the prob of his age. His age is confirm 9 la. Go check news-paper la.
Looking at the top photo of this boy I am truly amazed that he is a 9 year old. It does not seem possible speaking from my years of experience dealing with kids of all ages. He certainly looks older judging from his physical attributes alone.
Hopefully, someone out there, be it his school or family, can actually help solve this mystery by producing his authenticated birth certificate for all to see. Hopefully too it is a Singapore B C for that matter.
Red Coach Dick Yip
Kang Yee Cher is 100% overaged,he has underarm hair,leg hair,moustach,adams apple and pimples.I think he is secondery 1 or more.
All I can can add is, you have to be at Bishan Stadium to really share the dispair and frustration of all the D-division boys who have trained so hard just to finish in second place. Do be at Bishan next Wed, 11 july to watch the ‘giant’ run and then decide whether he should be allowed to participate in the Primary school division.
Goodness gracious… 9 yr old and 12.48sec 100m…
Waiting to see what he can achieve next yr….
National record when he is taking his PSLE??!!!
since he is the champion of the D-division 100 metres last yr.. im sure the authorities have alrdy verify his actual age.. this article is even on the straits time.. highly reliable.
This is the second consecutive year that he has broken the D-division record for 100 metres. He was already the ‘focus’ of coaches and teachers during last year’s championship when he broke the D-division 100 metres record as a Primary 2 child. However, given his physique, do you seriously think that he is only a Primary Three child? In fact, he would have been a World Champion if he were to compete in a world event. IMO, more should have been done by the authorities and his school to verify his actual age as, believe it or not, he will still be competing in the D-division next year and this will really be very unfair to the D-division boys who are really only training so hard to finish in second place behind this giant.
i hate to be sceptical, but he does look rather mature for a 10-year old. possibly his true age was ‘lost in translation’?
wow!! you mean he’s faster than americans his age?? that’s quick!!!