ASEAN Schools Track and Field: Boys’ 100m delivers Singapore’s only two-medal haul in an event with silver and bronze

Story by Colin Tung/Red Sports. Photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports

Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Saturday, July 2, 2011 — Singapore’s ASEAN Schools track athletes delivered medals in every event (except the girls’ 400m and girls’ 3000m walk) on the first day of competition. The haul from the track was one silver and four bronzes. There were two gold medals garnered from the field competition.

The boys’ 100m delivered the most success with Hwa Chong Institution classmates Donovan Chan and Tan Zong Yang running away with the silver and bronze medals in times of 11.11 seconds and 11.16sec respectively.

Malaysia’s Sebastian Lee, running from the inside in lane two, emerged as the only boy capable of beating the Singapore duo, winning the gold in a time of 10.97sec.

The first attempt to start the boys’ 100m final was aborted when the athletes were taking their marks in the starting blocks.

The sprinters had been crouched in the starting blocks for a few seconds when Donovan raised a hand to indicate his dissatisfaction. The sprinters were then made to repeat the starting process.

Donovan explained after the race: “There was a bit of a delay so when that happened, my mind wasn’t clear and I wasn’t calm. A lot of things went through my mind so I decided to restart (the process of starting the race).”

Both Donovan and Zong Yang will return to action for the Singapore team in the 4x100m relay tomorrow before flying off for the World Youth Championships in France, hopefully in high spirits.

Zong Yang said: “The whole (4x100m) team consist of Hwa Chong Institution runners so we hope to try for the National Junior Record of 41.28 seconds.”

In the girls’ 100m, Singapore similarly had two representatives in the final in the form of Shanti Pereira and Eugenia Tan. Shanti clocked 12.51sec to place third while Eugenia clocked 13.01sec, an identical time to the one she clocked in the heats, to finish eighth in the final.

After qualifying from the heats as fourth-fastest overall, Shanti said she was “very happy” and “relieved” to improve one position in the final to make the podium.

She said: “My own goal was to get a medal and I did it!”

In 400m action, Zubin Percy Muncherji added yet another achievement to an event he is still a fledgling in by obtaining the bronze medal with a personal best time of 49.89sec. Malaysians Mohd Arif Zulhilmi Bin Alet and Revin a/l Ramuh won the gold and silver medals with times of 48.67sec and 49.61sec respectively.

Zubin commented after the race: “I feel I ran a pretty good race. It was pretty well-paced. My plan was to hit 23.5sec at the 200m mark and that would set me up for 49 seconds.”

Zubin, who recently turned 15 on June 23, only switched to running the 400m in March this year after his coach decided he had “way more chance” in the event with his “stride length and body structure.” Zubin had been competing in the 100m and 200m events before making the change.

With his relative inexperience in the event, one might think he would lack confidence but Zubin’s eloquence betrayed no hint of it. One look at his pedigree would lend some indication to where his confidence stems from.

The India-born Zubin is the grandson of former Indian cricket team captain Ashok Joshi. His mother was an Indian national badminton player and his aunt played tennis at the Wimbledon championships in the junior competition.

He said: “I know I’m only 15 and it’s my first international race for Singapore. I have three years more at ASEAN Schools level. I’ll get the gold next year. I know I can do it when I start high performance training next year.”

His counterpart in the girls’ 400m, Wendy Enn, shared some of that confidence entering her own race in which she finished fifth in a time of 59.05sec. Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Huyen won the race in a championship-record of 56.24sec.

Wendy shared: “I felt very confident before the race and I really wanted a PB (58.6sec).”

A personal best was not her only motivation. Not only is Wendy a top junior runner but she is also in the reckoning to be in the women’s 4x400m squad for the South East Asian (SEA) Games.

She said: “If I clock a good timing, I get to be in the SEA Games 4x400m team. I want to clock below 58 seconds as soon as possible.”

The only local middle-distance runner on show on the day was Ranjitha Raja in the girls’ 1500m.

Ranjitha started the race in the back of the pack, which threatened to leave her in no man’s land at times as the pace quickened through the race.

However, each time, the valiant Ranjitha hung on and as the runners entered the last lap, with the two Filipino girls already off the pace, Ranjitha kicked into gear and started catching the field of runners.

Entering the home-stretch, the Indonesian girl, Desi Pelamonia, was all that separated her from a podium position. Closing fast, Ranjitha managed to pip the Indonesian at the line by one hundredth of a second. She posted a personal best time of 4 minutes 52.12 seconds for the bronze medal. Ranjitha’s previous personal best was 4:57.62.

The Vietnamese girls, Nguyen Thi Bich Tram and Nguyen Thi Hai, bagged both the gold and silver medals in times of 4:46.34 (new Games’ Record) and 4:49.68 respectively.

Immediately after the race, still unsure of her position, all Ranjitha, almost distraught, could say was: “I want to get third. I want third. I don’t care.”

And thankfully, she did get it.

Results (Track events)

Boys’ 100m heats:
1st Donovan Chan (Singapore) 11.08 seconds (wind speed -1.2 m/s)
4th Tan Zong Yang (Singapore) 11.24 (0.0)

Boys’ 100m final:
1st Sebastian Lee Azcona (Malaysia) 10.97 sec
2nd Donovan Chan (Singapore) 11.11
3rd Tan Zong Yang (Singapore) 11.16

Boys’ 400m heats:
3rd Zubin Percy Muncherji (Singapore) 50.39 sec

Boys’ 400m final:
1st Mohd Arif Zulhilmi Bin Alet (Malaysia) 48.67 sec
2nd Revin a/l Ramuh (Malaysia) 49.61
3rd Zubin Percy Muncherji (Singapore) 49.89

Boys’ 1500m final:
1st Ngo Dang Thanh (Vietnam) 4 mins 2.36 secs
2nd Sornram Bangbunnak (Thailand) 4:03.28
3rd Endro Kusworo (Indonesia) 4:04.23

Girls’ 100m heats:
4th Veronica Shanti Pereira (Singapore) 12.76 sec (-2.9 m/s)
7th Eugenia Tan (Singapore) 13.01 (-2.6 m/s)

Girls’ 100m final:
1st Nittaya Chasuree (Thailand) 12.18 sec
2nd Zaidatul Husna Bte Zulkifli (Malaysia) 12.32
3rd Veronica Shanti Pereira (Singapore) 12.51
8th Eugenia Tan (Singapore) 13.01

Girls’ 400m heats:
5th Wendy Enn (Singapore) 59.36 sec
9th Thia Yi Yi (Singapore) 62.18

Girls’ 400m final:
1st Nguyen Thi Huyen (Vietnam) 56.24 sec
2nd Kanjana Boonrung (Thailand) 57.56
3rd Hdin Nie (Vietnam) 58.32
5th Wendy Enn (Singapore) 59.05

Girls’ 1500m final:
1st Nguyen Thi Bich Tram (Vietnam) 4 min 46.34 sec
2nd Nguyen Thi Hai (Vietnam) 4:49.68
3rd Ranjitha D/O Raja (Singapore) 4:52.12

For more photos, go to the next page.