A tribute to Singapore's best
TNP salutes the athletes - some against huge odds - who impressed at the SEA Games
DIPNA LIM-PRASAD, SOH RUI YONG & MICHELLE SNG (ATHLETICS)
She might not have won a gold, but Lim-Prasad definitely left her mark as she set a new national record of 54.18sec in the 400m, erasing Chee Swee Lee's 43-year-old mark of 55.08.
The 26-year-old's silver medal is also Singapore's first SEA Games medal in the event since Chee took gold in 1975.
Lim-Prasad, who also won a silver in the 400m hurdles, then teamed up with Wendy Enn, Shanti Pereira and Nur Izlyn Zaini to set a new national mark of 44.96 in the 4x100m relay.
Soh overcame a sponsorship row to become the first Singaporean man to retain the marathon title, while Sng won the Republic's first women's high jump gold in 52 years after a successful appeal.
"We (the team) have been talking about our (personal) struggles and I'm just very proud for each and every one of us," said Lim-Prasad.
"I think we surpassed expectations and overcame a lot of demons."
MEN'S TEAM OF FIVE (BOWLING)
All eyes were on Singapore's world-class women's bowling team, but it was the men who flew under the radar before swooping in for the team gold.
After failing to medal in the men's singles, doubles and trios events, Basil Ng, Cheah Ray Han, Darren Ong, Keith Saw and Muhammad Jaris Goh pulled off one of the biggest upsets in KL.
It was no fluke either, as their six-game total of 6,399 pinfalls was way ahead of Malaysia's winning total of 6,067 pinfalls two years ago.
Said Saw, after the team clinched gold in an event Singapore last won in 1995: "We really stepped up and showed at least South-east Asia that Singapore are the team to beat."
DEBBIE SOH
(SYNCHRONISED SWIMMING)
Singapore's first gold medallist in Kuala Lumpur secured a hat-trick of titles, in the solo free routine and the duet technical with Miya Yong and the team free routine title. Soh (above) also won two silvers in the solo technical and duet free.
"At the Fina World Championships, many countries were talking about Singapore and how we have improved," said Singapore coach Maryna Tsimashenka.
YU SHURAN (FIGURE SKATING)
The 17-year-old wasted no time in claiming the SEA Games' first winter sports gold, ahead of teammate Chloe Ing.
Having finished sixth in February's Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, as well as 25th at the World Figure Skating Championships in March, the Beijing-based Shuran looks set to be Singapore's trailblazer in winter sports.
"We've shown we have good skaters here and we want to continue bringing awareness of our sport to Singapore and the rest of South-east Asia," she said.
MEN'S TEAM (GOLF)
Singapore had never won the men's team gold in golf, but in an intense sudden-death play-off, Gregory Foo, Joshua Shou, Marc Ong and Joshua Ho made history against the Thais .
Singapore Golf Association president Ross Tan said: "The gold is very meaningful because ever since this new board was elected (in July last year), we've been working very hard. Now the seniors have delivered something which I hope will (give the developmental squad players) something to look up to."
MEN'S TEAM (SQUASH)
With their most experienced player Vivian Rhamanan out of the team final due to injury, the younger players - Samuel Kang, SEA Games debutants Benedict Chan and Pang Ka Hoe - stepped up to beat the Philippines 2-1, and win the Republic's first gold in this event since 1995.
In a sign that bodes well for the future of squash, the women's team took silver to add to the two golds from the men's and women's jumbo doubles events, a silver in the men's doubles and five other bronzes.
Rhamanan said: "These boys and myself have not got proper funding from Sport Singapore but we did not think about that. We achieved (the gold) and we hope this will get us more financial support from the sports authorities so that we can groom the junior players."
QUAH JING WEN, TEONG TZEN WEI (SWIMMING)
As Olympians Joseph Schooling and Quah Zheng Wen did most of the heavy lifting, 19-year-old Teong had just one job at these Games - a big one, but boy, what a splash he made.
The debutant became Asean's fastest swimmer when he clocked 22.55sec to win the 50m freestyle.
"I will be working to try and hit that under-22 (seconds) mark," he said.
Jing Wen, 17, also impressed with her five-gold haul from the 100m and 200m fly, as well as the 4x100m, 4x200m free and 4x100m medley relays.
She said: "I don't want to put too much pressure on myself. I just want to go out there and race and hopefully hit new PBs."
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