Koh Seng Leong and Elizabeth Yin win gold at Australian Laser Nationals

Contributed by Ho Shu Fen

A day after Singapore sailors Justin Liu and Sherman Cheng won the Australian 420 Nationals title in Adelaide, Koh Seng Leong, 26, and Elizabeth Yin Yue Ling, 18, scored another coup at the Australian Laser National Championship by winning the Radial Men's and Women's titles for Singapore.

Double Olympian Koh Seng Leong maintained a strong lead throughout the six-day competition to win by a comfortable margin, finishing 29 points ahead of runner-up Malaysian Mohd Romzi. This is Seng Leong's first win in the Laser Radial division at the Australian Nationals. In 2003, he missed gold narrowly finishing in second place in Adelaide, he finished ninth in Albany in 2002.

Elizabeth Yin has added another feather to her cap with her performance. Already a triple world champion at the age of 18, she finished the regatta as the top female sailor in ninth place overall. Fellow team mate Victoria Chan (19) clinched a bronze position in the women's division by finishing in 14th position overall.

Colin Cheng, Asian Games Gold medalist in the Laser 4.7 class who is now sailing the Laser full rig, completed the regatta in ninth position overall.

Youth Olympic Games squad sailor Terence Choo Jian Jie (15) finished in third overall in the 45-strong fleet in the Laser 4.7 category.

Mark Robinson, SingaporeSailing's Head of High Performance said, "The varied medium to strong wind conditions with significant waves experienced in Adelaide are very similar to those in Shanwei (venue of 2010 Asian Games sailing competition) which will help our sailors immensely as they prepare for the Games and more imminently, the upcoming Asian Sailing Championships in March.

“In line with the conditions experienced at the Australian 420 and Laser Nationals, the sailors' stellar performances have marked a good start to our 2010 campaign and are positive indicators of our preparations for the year. The hard work will continue, it will be all hands on deck as we prepare towards achieving our targets at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and Asian Games."

Singaporeans' performance at the Australian National Laser Championship:

Laser 4.7 division (45 boats)
3rd, Terence Choo Jian Jie

Laser Radial division (95 boats)
Gold Fleet
1st, Koh Seng Leong
9th, Elizabeth Yin Yue Ling (1st, Women's division)
14th, Victoria Chan Jing Hua (3rd, Women's division)
37th, Eugene Woo Chung Hon
Silver Fleet
3rd, Mark Wong
32nd, Shevaun Su-Lyn Sethi

Laser Full Rig division (55 boats)
9th, Colin Cheng Xin Ru

Final results