Laos, Saturday, December 12, 2009 – Team Singapore’s swimmers continued to stamp their dominance as the region’s top conquerors of the pool when they won four of seven events on day four of the 25th South East Asian (SEA) Games, to reach double figures in swimming golds.

Beijing Olympics finalist Tao Li picked up two quick gold medals in the space of three events when she defended her women’s 100m backstroke and butterfly titles. Her respective times of 1 minute 2.96 seconds and 59.24s were new SEA Games records as well. Shana Lim made it a 1-2 finish in the earlier event when she clocked 1:03.56s, 0.31 off her Under-17 record.

Lynette Lim made up for yesterday’s 400m freestyle loss to Malaysia’s Khoo Cai Lin when she claimed the 800m freestyle title at the expense of her rival. The 17-year old led from start to finish in dominant fashion and broke both the Games and national records with a time of 8:35.41s.

Team Singapore’s men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team closed the night with the fourth gold medal in an exciting finish. Russell Ong, the bronze medallist in the individual race, gave up a slight lead after the first changeover, but Joshua Lim and Danny Yeo, who got the nod over Under-17 record holder Clement Lim, wrestled the advantage back for Team Singapore going into the final leg.

Philippines’ Miguel Molina, as expected, made up the slack almost immediately, but anchor Zach Ong held his ground and finished more than a second ahead of the multiple gold medallist. The time of 3:23.22s was streets ahead of the Games and national mark of 3:26.70s set at the previous edition.

Rainer Ng and Zach won silver and bronze respectively in the men’s 100m Backstroke, and their times of 56.73s and 56.89s both went under Rainer’s previous national mark of 57.33s.

Marcus Cheah failed to make it to the podium, but his time of 3:59.44s in the men’s 400m freestyle broke his own national record by 0.17s.

Chan Keng Kwang and Toh Lian Han won the bronze medal-placing match in the 9 Ball pool doubles to pad Team Singapore’s medal tally. Jason Tan (Men’s Finweight, Taekwondo) and the men’s 50m Rifle Prone Team of Kasmijan Kimin, Ong Jun Hong and Zhang Jin also added bronzes today.

In other events, Team Singapore have been assured of another gold and silver medal when the table-tennis mixed doubles pairs of Gao Ning and Feng Tianwei, and Yang Zi and Wang Yuegu both qualified for the final.

The badminton men’s and women’s teams both crashed out at the semi-final stage, but the golfers carried on their good form into the second day of competition. Jonathan Leong posted a 68 to tie for first in the individual leader board, and although the team of four slipped from first to second, they are just two strokes off Thailand’s pace.

The combined medal tally now stands at 18 golds, 8 silvers and 19 bronzes, with the swimmers contributing 10-4-8. Team Singapore is third in the medal tally.

Badminton:

Men’s team Semi-Finals:
Singapore 0 (Derek Wong, Hendri K Saputra, Hendra Wijaya, Ashton Chen) Malaysia 3 (Bronze)

Women’s team Semi-Finals:
Singapore 0 (Zhang Beiwen, Vanessa Neo, Shinta M Sari, Xing Aiying) Indonesia 3 (Bronze)

Billiards:

9 Ball Pool Doubles 3rd/4th placing:
Singapore (Chan Keng Kwang and Toh Lian Han) beat Thailand 7-2 (Bronze)

8 Ball Pool Singles Preliminary:
Toh Lian Han lost to Surathep P. (Tha) 7-2

Golf:

Men’s Individual:
Jonathan Leong: 137 (tied 1st)
Johnson Poh: 140 (tied 4th)
Jonathan Woo: 143 (10th)
Lam Zhiqun: 147 (tied 20th)

Men’s team:
Johnson Poh, Jonathan Leong, Jonathan Woo, Lam Zhiqun: 420 (2nd)

Pencak Silat:

Men’s Class C (55-60kg) Quarter-Finals:
Zulkhairil Bin Zulhanif lost to Pujo Janoko (Ina)

Men’s Class F (70-75kg) Semi-Finals:
Mohd Elyasak Bin Said lost to Truong Van Mao (Vie) (Bronze)

Women’s Class A (45-50kg) Quarter-Finals:
Nurindah Bte Mursani lost to Nyein Nyein Aung (Mya)

Women’s Class C (55-60kg) Quarter-Finals:
Saiedah Bte Said beat Nerlyn Huinda (Phi)

Womens’ Class D (60-65kg) Quarter-Finals:
Nur Zulaikha Bte Zakaria lost to Jongdee Hemkaeo (Tha)

Shooting:

Men’s 50m Rifle Prone Final:
Ong Jun Hong: 689.1 points (6th)
Zhang Jin: 582 (10th)
Kasmijan Kimin: 581 (12th)

Men’s 50m Rifle Prone Team Final:
Kasmijan Kimin, Ong Jun Hong, Zhang Jin: 1751 points (Bronze)

Table Tennis:

Mixed doubles:
1st Round:
Gao Ning and Feng Tian Wei beat Philippines 3-0
Yang Zi and Wang Yuegu beat Myanmar 3-0

2nd Round:
Gao Ning and Feng Tian Wei beat Indonesia 3-1
Yang Zi and Wang Yuegu beat Vietnam 3-0

Semi-Finals:
Gao Ning and Feng Tian Wei beat Thailand 3-1
Yang Zi and Wang Yuegu beat Malaysia 3-1

Taekwondo:

Men’s Finweight:
Quarter-Finals: Jason Tan beat Fatullah Taib (Bru)
Semi-Finals: Jason Tan lost to John Paul Lizardo (Phi) (Bronze)

Women’s Flyweight Quarter-Finals:
Lanetar Quek lost to Jyra Lizardo (Phi)

Swimming:

Men’s 400m Freestyle:
Marcus Cheah: 3:59.44s (4th, national record) (heat time 4:07.90s, 4th)
Danny Yeo: 4:34.77s (heats, 10th)

Men’s 100m Backstroke:
Rainer Ng: 56.73s (Silver, national record) (heat time 59.72s, 3rd)
Zach Ong: 56.89s (Bronze) (heat time 1:00.55s, 6th)

Men’s 4x100m Freestyle:
Russell Ong, Joshua Lim, Danny Yeo, Zach Ong: 3:23.22s (Gold, Games and national record)

Women’s 800m Freestyle:
Lynette Lim: 8:35.41s (Gold, Games and national record)
Koh Hui Yu: 9:04.67s (5th)

Women’s 100m Backstroke:
Tao Li: 1:02.96s (Gold, Games record) (heat time 1:06.11s, 4th)
Shana Lim: 1:03.56s (Silver) (heat time 1:05.82s, 2nd)

Women’s 100m Butterfly:
Tao Li: 59.24s (Gold, Games record) (heat time 1:03.88s, 6th)
Koh Ting Ting: 1:03.78s (8th) (heat time 1:03.47s, 1st)