Story by Jan Lin.

Bukit Gombak Stadium, Saturday, August 2, 2008 – The first day of the 70th Singapore Open Track and Field Championships 2008 saw the domination of the international visitors, who scooped 13 out of 15 titles up for grabs yesterday afternoon at the Bukit Gombak Stadium.

Athletes from China, Macau, Sri Lanka, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Brunei, Vietnam, The Philippines, Hong Kong and Australia marked their attendance at the annual Championship in Singapore yesterday. Local long distance runners Ranjitha Raja and Lim Kien Mau were the only two local representatives who bagged golds in the Women’s 1500m event and Men’s 10000m event respectively.

While the Women’s 1500m event was the only event of the day that registered an absence of overseas representatives, the Men’s 10000m event had only one overseas representative from Vietnam, Khoa Nguyen Tien. The Vietnamese had in fact run the race barefoot and was amazingly able to cross the finishing line second, with the rest of the local pack trailing far behind him.

The Republic’s household name 25-year-old Poh Seng Song also made it to the podium in his pet event – the 100m sprint. The 2004 Olympian who is representing Wings Athletics Club at this Championship was literally a neck ahead of the third place finisher Yi Wen-Chen from Chinese Taipei in the Men’s 100m final. Both men clocked 10.71sec in the final.

Seng Song’s personal best stands at 10.58 sec, but his time of 10.71sec bettered his result at the 2007 IVP Championship last October where he clocked 10.76sec to take gold. Beijing Olympic-bound Calvin Kang missed out narrowly on a medal as the 18-year-old finished fourth in a less than flattering time of 10.72sec, 0.01sec behind Seng Song and Wen Chen.

This result is off Calvin’s personal best of 10.53sec, which is also the current national junior record written just this year. Another local seasoned campaigner NIE undergraduate Amanda Choo clocked 12.35sec to take bronze in the Women’s 100m event. Like Calvin, Amanda’s result was off her personal best of 12.12sec, clocked at her qualifying race in the SEA Games last year.

Just about a month ago, Amanda also tasted success at the Malaysia National Athletics Championships in Kuala Lumpur, where she clocked an impressive 12.18sec run that earned her a silver medal. Amanda’s team mate Ann Siao Mei, also representing the Nanyang Technological University, ran 12.55sec to register a fourth-place finish.

Full results on Day 1 of 70th Singapore Open Track and Field Championships 2008

Women’s High Jump
1. Kiyoka Fujisawa (Japan) 1.70m
2. Wong Boon Syain (Malaysia) 1.65m
3. Satoko Hidaka (Japan) 1.65m

Men’s Discus
1. Wansawan Sawasdee (Thailand) 53.88m
2. Jun Fuijiwara (Japan) 53.11m
3. Kvanchai Numsomboon (Thailand) 48.26m

Women’s 400m Hurdles
1. Maiko Hosaka (Japan) 64.78sec
2. Asmah Hanim (Singapore, Wings Athletics Club) 69.10sec

Men’s 400m Hurdles
1. Dane Richter (Australia) 50.54sec
2. Masahira Yoshikata (Japan) 51.19sec
3. Nhan Vuong Thien (Vietnam) 54.74sec

Women’s 1500m
1. Ranjitha Raja (Singapore, Anderson Sec Sch) 5:14.04min
2. Samantha Koh (Singapore, Swift AA) 5:26.98min

Men’s 1500m
1. C. Indika Wijekoo, W.M (Sri Lanka) 3:53.73min
2. Muhammad Shah Feroz (Singapore, NTU) 4:12.92min
3. Anantharaj (Singapore, Swift AA) 4:25.86min

Men’s Triple Jump
1. Jia Yingli (China) 16.15m
2. Chamara Nuwan G. M. G (Sri Lanka) 15.46m
3. Si Kuan Wong (Macau) 14.98m

Men’s High Jump
1. Xu Xin (China) 2.19m
2. Tsao Chih Hao (Chinese Taipei) 2.11m
3. Lee Shang Yuan (Chinese Taipei) 2.06m

Women’s Discus
1. Tsuruyo Suzuki (Japan) 46.67m
2. Wan Lay Chi (Singapore, NYP) 46.44m
3. Yap Jeng Tzan (Malaysia) 45.60m

Women’s 100m
1. Priyadarshani N.C.D (Sri Lanka) 11.92sec
2. Yasuko Kirita (Japan) 12.33sec
3. Amanda Choo Sze-Min (Singapore, NTU) 12.25sec

Men’s 100m
1. Mitsuru Hasegawa (Japan) 10.68sec
2. Poh Seng Song (Singapore, Wings Athletics Club) 10.71sec
3. Yi Wen-Chen (Chinese Taipei) 10.71sec

Men’s 3000 Steeplechase
1. Surya S (Sri Lanka) 11:18.75min
2. Kumaran (Sri Lanka) 11:28.17min
3. Li Jian Rui (Singapore, Swift AA) 11:28.19

Women’s 400m
1. Miki Naruse (Japan) 54.82sec
2. Tomomi Sai (Japan) 56.11sec
3. Sharon JIzmundo (The Philippines) 59.99sec

Men’s 400m
1. Dane Richter (Australia) 48.19sec
2. Chao UN Kei (Macau) 49.63sec
3. Lance Tan (Singapore, Wings Athletics Club) 50.10sec

Men’s 10000m
1. Lim Kien Mau (Singapore, MacRitchie Runners 25) 34:55.25min
2. Khoa Nguyen Tien (Vietnam) 36:38.40min
3. Daniel Ling (Singapore, SAA) 37:00.62min