Sailor Koh Seng Leong wins Laser Radial gold in Melbourne

Contributed by Ho Shu Fen

Singapore’s Koh Seng Leong dominated the Laser Radial Men fleet to win gold while Elizabeth Yin and Victoria Chan scored a seventh and eighth in the Laser Radial Women's fleet.

15 sailors represented Singapore at the recent 2009 Sail Melbourne regatta which is the concluding event in the ISAF World Cup series.

In the 470 men's division, Roy Tay and Terence Koh ended the regatta in a credible fifth place as Olympic Gold medalists Malcolm Page and his partner Mat Belcher led the regatta from start to finish.

The younger 470 Singaporean pair, Sean Lee and Joel Pang, managed a top-10 position in tenth place in their first ISAF Grade One event.

The two pairs of 470 women sailors, Dawn Liu/Siobhan Tam and Jovina Choo/Sara Tan, finished in third and fourth positions respectively.

Colin Cheng, racing in a highly competitive Laser Full Rig fleet, finished in 23rd place overall.

18-year-old Leonard Ong took a bronze in the RS:X men's windsurfing class while Joshua Choo finished behind him in fourth and Shaun Pow in eighth overall.

Sail Melbourne results:
470 Men Overall

470 Women Overall

Laser Full Rig Overall

Laser Radial Men Overall

Laser Radial Women Overall

RS:X Men's Overall

Meanwhile, on the island of Langkawi, which is also the venue for the 2010 Optimist World Championship, the IODA Optimist Asian Championship concluded with the young Singaporean sailors clinching a silver and two bronze medals.

The team of Andrew Tang, Ryan Lo, Kimberly Lim, Elisa Yukie Yokoyama, Dillon How earned a bronze medal in the Team Racing event finshing behind Thailand and Malaysia.

In the individual racing category, top Singaporean performer Kimberly Lim finished in overall sixth position. Elisa Yukie Yokoyama and Ryan Lo in overall eighth and ninth position also earned silver and bronze medal in the under-12 category. Their team mates, Andrew Tang ended the regatta in 12th while Rebecca Goh finished in 17th, Bryan Lee in 20th and Dillon How in 30th overall.

Overall results

Over the next two weeks, the Singapore sailors will be in Adelaide, Australia competing in the Australian 420, Laser, Optimist National Championships (27 Dec 09 to 4 Jan 10) and Australian Youth Championship (6 to 10 Jan 10).