Story by REDintern Tan Wan Xin. Photos by Lim Yong Teck, Soh Jun Wei, Lee Jian Wei and Clara Yuan/Red Sports

SEA Games athletics

Cheryl Chan of Singapore in action during the women’s 3000m steeplechase final. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)

National Stadium, Friday, June 12, 2015 — Singapore’s Cheryl Chan and Eliza Ng finished seventh and eighth at the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games women’s 3000m steeplechase final, while Muhammad Shah Feroz and Colin Tung came in ninth and 11th respectively in the men’s race.

Two-time defending champion and SEA Games record holder for the women’s 3000m steeplechase, Rini Budiarti from Indonesia, successfully defended her title, claiming the gold in a time of 10 minutes 20.40 seconds.

Despite sustaining an injury that forced her to withdraw from the women’s 1500m, Cheryl broke her own national record in this event, finishing in a time of 11:45.16 – ten seconds faster than her personal best.

Eliza Ng also smashed her personal best by about nine seconds, clocking a time of 12:14.91. It was the icing on the cake, after a gruelling competition schedule of three events in as many days.

On her motivation throughout the Games, Eliza said, “My coach’s encouragement. He always tells us that you really have to be brave to go through all this.”

The men’s race was won by Christopher Ulboc Jr. from the Philippines. He out-kicked Vietnam’s Pham Tien San in the final 200m to clinch the gold, even easing off towards the finish line to celebrate his clear victory. He recorded a time of 8:59.07.

Muhammad Shah Feroz achieved his target of going under 9:45, clocking a personal best time of 9:42.78 to finish in ninth place. It was sweet reward for his efforts, after he took one month of no-pay leave to train full-time for the Games.

Red Crew Colin Tung also dipped below the 10-minute mark for the first time, attaining a personal best of 9:54.76 to finish 11th.

In doing so, he joins a small group of local runners who have went sub-10 minutes in this event in at least the past five years. Along with Feroz, whose PB was 9:59.68 coming into the final, T. Haarishankar (9:45.26, 2013) and Karthic Harish Ragupathy (9:57.95, 2012) have also gone below 10 minutes.

Women’s 3000m Steeplechase Results
1st: Rini Budiarti (INA) 10:20.40
2nd: Nguyen Thi Phuong (VIE) 10:32.61
3rd: Jessica Lynn Barnard (PHI) 10:36.90 (Personal Best)
4th: Truong Thi Thuy Kieu (VIE) 10:40.54 (Season’s Best)
5th: Se Khin Mar (MYA) 10:52.75 (PB)
6th: Soe Hnin Yu (MYA) 11:06.45
7th: Cheryl Chan Xue Rou (SIN) 11:45.16 (National Record)
8th: Ng Yu Jun Eliza (SIN) 12:14.91 (PB)
9th: Chansouk Minghamkyong (LAO) 12:49.64

Men’s 3000m Steeplechase Results
1st: Christopher Ulboc Jr. (PHI) 8:59.07 (PB)
2nd: Pham Tien San (VIE) 8:59.90 (PB)
3rd: Atjong Tio Purwanto (INA) 9:06.41 (PB)
4th: Ahmad Luth Hamizan (MAS) 9:18.42 (PB)
5th: Kaut Mar (MYA) 9:20.85 (PB)
6th: Le Trong Giang (VIE) 9:25.08
7th: Ribeiro Pinto De Carvalho (TLS) 9:34.42 (PB)
8th: Sysavath Thammavongchith (LAO) 9:37.41 (PB)
9th: Muhammad Shah Feroz bin Moheden 9:42.78 (PB)
10th: Rene Herrera (PHI) 9:52.38
11th: Tung Zhi Shing Colin (SIN) 9:54.76 (PB)

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