Story by REDintern Delle Chan. Photos by Van Lim/Red Sports

 2010 Asia Cup 1 Rowing Championships

Yeong Wai Man crossing the finish line in a time of 3 minutes 34.49 seconds, just three seconds ahead of Hong Kong’s Liao Shun Yin, to get the gold. (Photo 1 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

Marina Reservoir, Sunday, June 13, 2010 — Singapore’s rowers did the nation proud by garnering a gold medal and a bronze medal in the Men’s Single Sculls and the Women’s Single Sculls respectively at the Asian Cup Rowing Championships.

In the Women’s Single Sculls, Saiyidah Aisyah Mohamed Rafaee clocked a time of 4 minutes 7.30 seconds over 1000 metres to finish in third place behind Hong Kong’s Cheung Lai Yin and Ng Wing Hei.

In the Men’s Single Sculls, Yeong Wai Mun rowed his way to a convincing victory in a time of 3:34.49, beating his nearest competitor by almost three seconds.

Wai Mun, who is currently awaiting approval from the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) on his Asian Games nomination, commented on his gold-medal winning achievement: “I feel that I did pretty well today. There are certain expectations to meet when racing on home ground. I am training under a new coach and I think that I have made good improvement.”

In the Junior Men’s Pairs event, Singapore’s Yunus Muhammad Faisal and Thng Zhe En Daniel, finished fourth in their event. Nonetheless, they remained positive about their prospects for the upcoming Youth Olympic Games (YOG). They expressed hopes of “winning some medals and improving timings” at the YOG.

The 15-year-olds also shared their Asian Cup Rowing Championships experience: “It has been quite stressful as our competitors are much bigger [physically].”

The Asian Cup Rowing Championships are part of a series of validation exercises being conducted by the Singapore YOG Organising Committee (SYOGOC) in order to better prepare for the first-ever YOG in August. The YOG rowing events will take place from the 15th to the 18th of August at the Marina Reservoir.

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 2010 Asia Cup 1 Rowing Championships

“I feel that I did pretty well today. There are certain expectations to meet when racing on home ground. I am training under a new coach and I think that I have made good improvement,” said Yeong Wai Man on winning the gold. (Photo 2 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

 2010 Asia Cup 1 Rowing Championships

Saiyidah Aisyah (left) is overtaken by Hong Kong’s Ng Wing Hei (right) in the last 250m but holds out to get the bronze medal. (Photo 3 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

 2010 Asia Cup 1 Rowing Championships

Singapore’s Wong Yi Qi (top) and Daniel Thng (middle) come in behind Indonesia’s Vedowar Victor in third and fourth place respectively in the B Final. They placed 9th and 10th overall respectively. (Photo 4 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

 2010 Asia Cup 1 Rowing Championships

Shaun Toh (bow) and Andrew Poh (stroke) getting into position at the start line. (Photo 5 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

 2010 Asia Cup 1 Rowing Championships

Singapore Junior Men’s pair of Yunus Faisal (bow) and Daniel Thng (stroke) remain positive about their prospects for the upcoming Youth Olympic Games despite coming in fourth. (Photo 6 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

 2010 Asia Cup 1 Rowing Championships

Singapore’s Budiman Osman (bow), De Matos Tomas Norton (2), Ahmad Faizal (3) and Osman Hardi (stroke) coming in fourth in the Men’s Four event. (Photo 7 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

 2010 Asia Cup 1 Rowing Championships

Joanna Chan, one of two female Singapore rowers, places first in the B Final and fifth overall in the junior women’s single sculls. (Photo 8 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

 2010 Asia Cup 1 Rowing Championships

Uzakbaev Abubakir (in blue) surging ahead of Hong Kong’s Wong Wai Kin (white) in the last 250m. (Photo 9 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

 2010 Asia Cup 1 Rowing Championships

The Uzbekistan pair of Muhammadiev Abdurasul and Usmonov Zafar finishing ahead of the rest of the competition to get the gold. (Photo 10 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

 2010 Asia Cup 1 Rowing Championships

It’s a 1-2 finish for Hong Kong in the Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls event. (Photo 11 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)