New partner, new event but same target

Despite changes in class and partner, national sailor Kimberly Lim is confident of replicating her 2014 Asian Games gold-medal success at the Asiad in Indonesia from Aug 18-Sept 2.

In the previous edition, Lim came up tops in the 420 women's two-person dinghy class together with her partner Savannah Siew.

This year, Lim, 21, will be competing in the 49erFX class together with Cecilia Low, who won the gold in the 420 class at the 2010 Asiad and silver in the 29er class in 2014.

Although it will be their first time as a pair for the Games, their partnership was established three years ago.

On their Asian Games goal, Lim said: "We're definitely looking for gold, it'll be a lot of fun.

"I don't really know how the competition will be like in Asia because it's so new. It'll be quite fresh and a surprise."

The pair were speaking yesterday after President Halimah Yacob broke fast with some athletes and para-athletes, who are part of Singapore's biggest Asiad contingent of 246, at the Singapore Sport Institute athletes' lounge.

President Halimah had gone to visit Team Singapore's training sessions earlier in the day to give them encouragement ahead of the Games.

In their first appearance at the Sailing World Cup last June, Lim and Low came in seventh in the 15-boat final.

They were also the top Asian pair in the 49erFX class, finishing ahead of ninth-placed Chika Hatae and Hiroka Itakura.

It has been a hectic schedule for the duo, who have set their sights on qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Lim put her studies on hold from 2016 to 2020 to commit to qualifying for the Olympics.

They have been based in Europe for the last five months to compete and train.

Their first shot at realising their Olympic dream comes 10 days before the Asian Games, in the first Olympic qualifiers at the Hempel Sailing World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark.

But they believe that their packed schedule will not hinder their performance, with Low, 27, saying: "We just need to be fresh and ready the mind."

President Halimah also met the swimmers, water polo players, boccia players and silat exponents.

Boccia para-athlete Nurulasyiqah Mohammad Taha, 33, is determined to top her showing of fourth in the BC 3 individual category at the Incheon Games in 2014.

As part of her preparations for the Asian Para Games, Nurul will be competing in the World Championships in England.

She said: "We'll use that as part of our training for the Asian Para Games and use all the opportunities we have as stepping stones to Games.

"We will try to replicate what we do well (in England) in Jakarta and let the results speak for themselves."

She hopes that the boccia players' recent successes can continue to help the sport grow, saying: "We use that as a push factor to help us train harder. We want people to know what the sport is and share that we can actually go far in the sport."

Meanwhile, Singapore's silat exponents are looking forward to the Asiad, where the sport will make its long-awaited debut.

Singapore captain Nur Alfian Juma'en, 22, is eyeing gold medals despite the expected tough competition in Indonesia.

He said: "We go into the Games with high confidence, and I don't think Indonesia being the home country will disturb our mindset.

"I want to win a gold medal, and I don't think any of my teammates will want to settle for less than gold." - ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JONAH FOONG