ASEAN University Games: High jumper Michelle Sng and 4x100m men’s team pick up bronze each

By Noor Farhan/Singapore Universities Sports Council. Posted with permission of SUSC

Chiangmai, Tuesday, December 21, 2010 — The hot weather proved to be no obstacle for Singapore’s athletes as they produced a good showing here, winning a bronze medal in the women’s High Jump and the 4x100m men’s relay respectively.

Earlier in the day, national High Jump record holder Michelle Sng overcame a problem with the ground marker to come in third behind Chalinee Kaewniam of Thailand and Wong Boon Syian of Malaysia.

“I started off the year pretty strong, but it has not been going well ever since. I had an ankle sprain three weeks ago, which was not a factor (with my performance) but I simply was not up to mark today,” said Michelle on her performances thus far.

“I’m quite disappointed with my jump today, as I’m on the same level as these girls (Chalinee and Boon Syian), having competed with them for years,” she added.

“In competition, we (as athletes) have to take it (the results) as it is. When we do badly we’ll have to accept it, go back, regroup and then start the season again,” quipped Michelle, taking the positives from her AUG experiences.

The Mens 4x100m relay quartet, which had three-quarters of the national team, came in third with a time of 40.62 seconds behind red-hot favourites Indonesia, as well as Thailand.

“I think the (baton pass) from the first to the second runner was quite okay (although) the second and third passes were quite close. As a whole the race was quite okay, as this is the first time we had the last runner, Lance (Tan), running with us and so, the result was quite reasonable,” commented Elfi Mustapa, after the run.

“In fact in the first part of the race, we caught up with the Thais, who were quite fast. As the race went on, they broke away from us. But even then, we produced a good performance,” he added.

“The Thais can do their relays very well, we know that for a fact. Their (combined) training plays a part as they are all from the same school, training together day and night,” said Amirudin Jamal, the third runner in the relay team, when asked about their opponents.

Commenting on their strengths, he added: “Their understanding was very good, in fact they have a slightly lower ground speed than us, but because their exchanges were much smoother than ours, they managed to pip us for the win.”

“Even so, not taking anything away from (Lance), it was his first time training with us, but I feel that it was still a good performance (coming from ) him in the race,” said Amiruddin of Lance Tan, who had a hand-timed 10.80s run prior to the relay race.

Other Results

4x100m Womens Relay
1st Malaysia – 45.73s (Nurul Sarah Abdul Kadir, Siti Fatima Mohamad, Norjannah Hafiszah, Zubaidah Adabi)
2nd Indonesia – 46.16s (Agustina Bawele, Tri Setyo Utami, Serafi Unani, Nurul Imaniar)
3rd Thailand –46.62s (Patcharaporn Keawkling, Jintara Seangdee, Tassaporn Wannakit, Kamongchanog Sornplod)
4th Singapore – 47.23s (Melanie Francisca, Amanda Choo, Sze-Min, Valerie Pereira, Dipna Lim Prasad)

400m Mens Hurdles
1st Nitat Kaewkhong,,Thailand – 52.49s
2nd Andrian, Indonesia – 52.50s
3rd Jesson Ramil Cid, Philippines – 55.19s
4th Sharman Abdul Rahman Dustageer, Singapore – 58.86s

5000m Women
1st Trianningsih, Indonesia – 16:58.18s
2nd Melinda Kaur, Malaysia -18:31.00s
3rd Souksavanh Malivanh, Laos – 19:34.70s
4th Mary Ann Dela Cruz, Philippines – 20:03.72s
5th Dalyn Carmen, Philippines – 20:40.09s
6th Michelle Chay, Singapore – 20:57.08s
7th Sumiko Tan, Singapore – 21:57.82s