Amanda Choo wins 100m at Singapore Open Track & Field for first time

By REDintern Sherry Lim

Bukit Gombak Stadium, Saturday, September 18, 2010 — Amanda Choo burned up the track to match the excruciatingly hot weather to win the 100m in 12.15 seconds at the 72nd Singapore Open Track & Field Meet.

Amanda, 23, holds the current 100m record of 12.12s set in Korat, Thailand, on December 7th, 2007, during the South East Asian (SEA) Games.

Amanda then broke her national 100m record when she clocked 12.03 on April 10th, 2010, at the Negeri Sembilan Open but that time has not entered the record books yet.

Amanda was delighted with her performance, stating that it was her first win in the Singapore Open Track and Field Meet.

“After passing the 30m mark, I chased all the way, I told myself to hang in there for the last 10m. I was repeating to myself not to lose it because sometimes I tend to slide off towards the end,” said Amanda.

Amanda added that she could have done better and has set a target for under 12 seconds from now on.

”The wind condition was quite strong today. However, I am still quite pleased with today’s performance. I will be looking forward to attending the Asian Games in November,” she said.

Fellow Singaporean athlete Dipna Lim Prasad also did well, coming in third for the event.

“I was disappointed with today’s result though because it was not close to my personal best of 12.22 seconds. I came in at 12.36 seconds today,” commented the NTU freshman. “But my coach told me to relax and just focus on tomorrow’s 200m event.”

In the men’s 100m final, Singaporean athlete Muhamad Elfi Mustapa started as the eighth-fastest qualifier but finished third with a timing of 10.70 seconds.

“I think I am pretty happy with the results, given the strong competition field. My heats was not as good as I hoped it would be but I made up for it in the final,” chirped Elfi.

Tsai Meng Li (10.65) and Yi Wei Chen (10.67) of Chinese Taipei finished first and second respectively.

Elfi expressed that he was not expecting much despite getting into the final because he was the last qualifier.

“I just focused on the race itself and tried to keep my frequency fast. I’m so glad I managed to do just that,” said Elfi, who will be participating in the Commonwealth Games in October.

National 100m record holder U K Shyam (10.37) decided not to run after warming up because of a fever while Calvin Kang just missed out on the final when he managed only a 11.06 in the heats.

In the women’s 100m Hurdles final, Goh Wei Ning from Singapore Sports School came in third, clocking in at 15.49 seconds.

“I was quite happy to be able to make it into the final but felt a little pressured and scared at the start, facing competitors from Japan and Hong Kong,” Wei Ning shared. “I hit a hurdle during the race and that set me back a little. I felt I could have caught up with the Hong Kong athlete.”

Lossini Jayapandiyan won the women’s 800m final but expressed her dismay in failing to better her personal best of 2 minutes and 23 seconds.

“There were only two of us competing in the final instead of five so it was quite different from usual. I planned to use the other runners as pacers but unfortunately it felt more like a solo show. It would have felt more hyped up if there had been more of us competing instead,” she said.

Day 1 Results – Track
Day 1 Results – Field