Story by Kenneth Tan/Red Sports. Pictures by Lai Jun Wei and Dr Low Sze Sen/Red Sports
Goh Wei Ning bumping into the final hurdle during 100m hurdles prelims. She managed to qualify for the final where she clocked a PB of 14.78. “This was much better than the prelims!” she exclaimed after the run. (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Bishan Stadium, Sunday, May 23, 2010 –- 10 Singaporean athletes competed on the second day of the Asian Area Qualification for the Youth Olympics Games (YOG) with 16-year-old Goh Wei Ning making the biggest impact.
She finished fifth out of eight girls in the 100m hurdles final with a new personal best (PB) timing of 14.78 seconds — an improvement from the 15.01 she clocked at the 3rd All-Comers Meet in February.
“This was much better than the prelims!” exclaimed Wei Ning, referring to the preliminaries held in the morning where she clocked 15.30. “I didn’t know who my competitors were earlier on thus I struggled a bit. After that I got familiar with them and got used to the competition.”
“I aimed for a sub-15 at the school nationals but I didn’t get it,” she added. “Coach Viatcheslav Slava was especially worried that I could not do it after the prelims. Credits really goes to him. He gave me the encouragement to achieve this.”
The good result does not assure her selection for the YOG, as only the top two finishers in each event is guaranteed automatic qualification. However, Singapore, as host nation, has five wildcard athletic slots each for the boys and girls. As such, she will hope that she gets the nomination of the Singapore Athletics Association (SAA) on the back of her performance in this Asian Area Qualification.
The Asian Area Qualification serves as the second competition for the SAA to decide on their athletes for the YOG. Right now, they have narrowed the field down to eight boys and eight girls. According to the selection criteria of SAA’s website, “from here [the Asian Area Qualification] the top ten athletes (five boys and five girls) with the greatest possibility by percentage to achieve a top ten finish at YOG will be nominated.”
Other than Wei Ning, all other Singaporean athletes finished down the field of competitors in their respective events and failed to better their personal best marks.
Seah Toh Renjie, representing Singapore in the 110m hurdles final, finished sixth out of eight boys. The Victoria School student clocked 14.26.
“I tried my best but unfortunately I could not catch up with the rest,” the 16-year-old lamented. “My PB is 13.98 and I tried to get below 13.80 but I could not do so.”
However he felt it was good exposure to meet the other Asian athletes.
“I chatted with all of them when we were warming up,” he said. “Some of them even tried to encourage me and help me out!”
“I trained three times a week under coach Yu Long Nyu, but after this, I think I have to train much harder!” he said.
Krista Shilin Yeong finished last out of six girls in the 400m hurdles final, clocking a disappointing 72.85.
“To be honest, it was quite bad,” said the 16-year-old. “My PB was 67.5 but I was a few seconds off the mark.”
However she remained happy about completing the race.
“I injured my hamstring one to two months ago and could not train for three weeks, “I had to miss the 100m hurdles and nearly did not take part in the 400m one as well. Coach is rather happy I completed my race!” she said.
Meanwhile four other Singaporeans failed to qualify for the track finals.
Luqman Zamrot represented Singapore in the 400m hurdles preliminaries but failed to qualify for the final as he finished last in a field of nine boys. He clocked 59.32.
Donavan Chan finished second last in a field of 20 runners in the 100m prelims with a timing of 11.28. The 16-year-old failed to improve on his PB of 11.12.
As for the girls, Wendy Ann finished seventh in a field of eight girls in the 400m prelims. She clocked 61.18.
Liang Wei finished 10th in a field of 18 girls in the 100m prelims with a timing of 12.93. The 17-year-old failed to improve on her PB of 12.5 and narrowly missed out on qualification for the finals.
Meanwhile two other Singaporeans were in action during the field events on Sunday.
At the girls’ high jump event, Shuen Lim finished last out of six competitors, reaching a distance of only 1.50m.
The 16-year-old CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ student failed to improve on her PB of 1.56m.
At the girls’ triple jump event, Nurshaishireen Rahim finished 11th out of 13 competitors with a distance of 10.56m. The 17-year-old did not beat her PB of 11.50m.
Lastly at the boys’ pole vault event, Arivan Shanmugaratnam failed in all three attempts and did not register any height.
“I didn’t do well,” said a visibly dejected Arivan. “For my first attempt, I did not manage to do the invert well. The second was almost the same as the the first. For the third, I decided to start slower but my run wasn’t good.”
“It could be due to my niggling knee problem,” the 16-year-old Hwa Chong Institution student said when quizzed about the reason for his dismal performance. “The injury is what many call a jumpers’ knee.”
Despite failing to qualify via the Asian Area Qualifying Championships, five boys and five girls will be selected among those competing, should they meet the qualification criteria set by SAA.
Zamrot Luqman trailing the pack in the 400m hurdles preliminaries. His time of 59.32 was not enough to qualify him for the final. (Photo 2 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Liang Wei, Singapore’s representative in 100m prelims. She clocked 12.93 which ranked her 10th out of 18 girls. (Photo 3 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Donovan Chan trying his best to catch up with Qatar’s Eid Abdulla Alkuwari in the 100m prelims. His timing of 11.28 placed him next to last among 20 runners and did not qualify him for the final. (Photo 4 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Wendy Ann looking exhausted when she completed her 400m prelims. She clocked 61.18 to finish seventh out of eight girls. (Photo 5 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Sean Toh surges ahead to catch up with eventual winner China’s Wang Dong Qiang in the 110m prelims. He clocked 14.28 in the final to finish sixth out of eight boys. After the race, Sean admitted China were his strongest opponents. (Photo 6 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Krista Shilin Leong struggling through her 400m hurdles final. She finished last out of six girls and her timing of 72.85 was well off her PB mark. She revealed that a niggling hamstring injury affected her performance. (Photo 7 © Low Sze Sen/Red Sports)
Shuen Lim registering a distance of 1.50m at the girls’ high jump event. She failed to beat her PB of 1.56m. (Photo 8 © Low Sze Sen/Red Sports)
Arivan Shanmugaratnam making one of his three attempts at the men’s pole vault event. He failed to register any height and bowed out of the competition early. (Photo 9 © Low Sze Sen/Red Sports)
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