Laos, Wednesday, December 16, 2009 – Discus thrower James Wong bagged his eighth gold medal in the discipline when he won Team Singapore’s only gold medal on day eight of competition at the 25th South East Asian (SEA) Games in Laos.

His throw of 53.60 metres was more than six metres off his personal best and national record, and shorter than the previous gold-medal winning throw of 54.13m by Thai Sawasdee Wansawang, but good enough to win gold here. Wansawang finished third.

James opened with a first round throw of 52.18m which would have been good enough for the first place, though it was briefly threatened by Kvanchai Numsomboon’s third round hurl of 52.15m. James then responded with a 52.53m throw, and closed out the competition with his final 53.60m distance for good measure.

With that, he climbed to the top step of the podium for the ninth time in a SEA Games (he won the Hammer gold in 1997), which have seen his participation through three decades. His debut in 1987 earned him a bronze which he improved to silver two years later in Kuala Lumpur. He struck gold on home soil in 1993 and never looked back from there, winning every Discus gold on offer in the biennial Games except for the most recent one which he did not take part in.

19-year-old Scott Wong, touted as James’ heir apparent after breaking a bevy of Discus and Shot Put records en route to taking down James’ national junior record, finished fourth in a new personal best of 44.95m.

Team Singapore won a silver medal in Archery when the women’s Recurve team of Vanessa Loh, Samantha Wong and Wendy Tan lost 195-190 to the Indonesian trio in the final. Judoka Ang Xuan Yi picked up a Bronze in the women’s 52-57 kilogram category.

The women’s badminton doubles of Shinta M Sari and Yao Lei won a thrilling three-setter against their Thai opponents to book a place in tomorrow’s final. They won their semi-final match 22-20, 12-21, 21-19 to set up a meeting with the Malaysian pair of Chin Eei Hui and Wong Pei Tty. Charlene Chai also advanced to the final of womens’ Billiards 9 Ball Pool Singles after winning her quarter and semi-final matches.

Team Singapore fell to fourth in the medal tally on silver medal countback, as Indonesia took over third place. Singapore have 32 golds, 23 silvers and 33 bronzes as the Games enter its penultimate day tomorrow.

Day 8 results:

Archery:

Men’s Recurve Team Quarter-Finals:
Singapore (Abdud Dayyan Jaffar, Benson Ang, Leow Ting Yue) lost to Myanmar 207-180

Men’s Compound Team Quarter-Finals:
Singapore (Adriel Chua, Heng Fook Hup, Michael Ong) lost to Thailand 228-221

Women’s Recurve Team:
Quarter-Finals: Singapore (Vanessa Loh, Wendy Tan, Samantha Wong) beat Vietnam 200-188
Semi-Finals: Singapore (Vanessa Loh, Wendy Tan, Samantha Wong) beat Malaysia 198-196
Final: Singapore (Vanessa Loh, Wendy Tan, Samantha Wong) lost to Indonesia 195-190 (Silver)

Athletics:

Men’s Discus Final:
James Wong: 53.60m (Gold)
Scott Wong: 44.95m (4th)

Men’s Pole Vault Final:
Sean Lim: No mark

Badminton:

Women’s Doubles Semi-Finals:
Shinta M Sari and Yao Lei beat Savitree Amitrapai and Vacharaporn Munkit (Tha) 2-1

Billiards:

Men’s Snooker Singles:
Preliminary Round:
Lim Chun Kiat beat Ye Zaw Htut (Mya) 4-2
Ang Boon Chin beat Pham Hoai Nam (Vie) 4-1
Quarter-Finals:
Lim Chun Kiat lost to Thor Chuan Leong (Mas) 4-0
Ang Boon Chin lost to Supoj S. (Tha) 1-4

Women’s 9 Ball Pool Singles:
Quarter-Finals: Charlene Chai beat Viensavan (Lao) 7-5
Semi-Finals: Charlene Chai v Iris Ranola (Phi) 7-6

Judo:

Men’s 73-81kg:
Quarter-Finals: Ling Yung Ming lost to Aung Moe (Mya)
Repercharge: Ling Yung Ming lost to Chong Wai Keat (Mas)

Women’s 52-57kg:
Quarter-Finals: Ang Xuan Yi lost to Jenielou Mosqueda (Phi)
Repercharge: Ang Xuan Yi beat Endang Sri Lestari (Ina) (Bronze)

Wrestling:

Women’s 48-51kg:
Semi-Finals: Melvynna Tambunan lost to Sulis Yuliani (Ina)
Repercharge: Melvynna Tambunan lost to Chey Channreaksmey (Cam)

Wushu:

Men’s Taijiquan and Taijijian Final:
Seet Wee Key: 19.03 points (6th)

Men’s Nanquan Final:
Brendan Goh: 18.36 points (7th)

Women’s Taijiquan and Taijijian Final:
Tao Yi Jun: 19.09 points (6th)