ASEAN Schools Badminton: Singapore boys and girls both bag bronzes in team events

Story by Stefanus Ian/Red Sports. Photos by Stefanus Ian and Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports

Yio Chu Kang Stadium, Monday, July 04, 2011 — Singapore clinched a joint-third position alongside Indonesia in both the boys’ and girls’ team categories at the 3rd ASEAN Schools Badminton tournament.

Thailand and Malaysia claimed the gold and silver medals respectively in both categories.

The Singapore boys’ team started brightly against Malaysia as they grabbed victory in the first singles match. However, they lost all their other matches against the Malaysian team to go down 1-4.

Singapore’s representative in the boys’ first singles, Ong Cheng Yuen, started the day on a bright note for his team. He obtained victory in straight games against Tan Kian Meng of Malaysia. Cheng Yuen was in the lead from the start, wrapping up the first game 21-15.

The second game was however more challenging as his Malaysian opponent mounted a surge and played more aggressively. Cheng Yuen managed to hold on and in a last-ditch effort, finished off his opponent 21-19.

The second singles match was yet another close affair between Singapore’s Sean Lee and Malaysia’s Lim Chi Wing as the Singaporean pushed his opponent into a three-game battle. Despite going down 15-21 in the first game, Sean rallied back in the second game to level the score and win 22-20. However, he could not complete his comeback in the third game as he lost 14-21 to allow Malaysia to take the win.

The girls’ team, on the other hand, fared much better against minnows Brunei Darussalam. The girls were in cruise control all the way as they swept aside Brunei 5-0, winning all their matches in straight games.

Lim Tien Juan, one of the Singapore coaches, was clearly pleased with the performance of her charges in this tournament.

She said: “The girls played well. It is good that they get international exposure at this stage. If they were to only play in local tournaments, they might not be able to realise their true potential.”

As for their target next year, the Singaporean coach was cautious.

“Looking at our current level, a target of third-place is very realistic because to break into the top two would require a lot of talent,” she commented.

In the other match-up between Indonesia and Thailand, Indonesia narrowly lost 3-2 to eventual champions Thailand in both the boys’ and girls’ team competitions.

It began ominously for the Indonesians as both their first singles players crashed early on. Despite winning their first games, both Dian Fitriani and Agi Hariawan of Indonesia could not close out their matches and were defeated in their third games.

Dian’s match, in particular, was a crowd-pleaser. Natnicha from Thailand showcased her mental fortitude, battling hard in her second game. Staring defeat in the face, she saved one match-point before turning the tide to grab the second game 23-21.

In the rubber game, it was a similarly tight affair but Dian seemed to be in control when she pulled away to lead 17-13.

However, Natnicha dug deep as she reeled off five back-to-back points to take the lead 18-17. Both players traded leads at the end but the Thai proved to be too hot to handle as she completed her courageous comeback 23-21.

She was clearly overjoyed with her victory, pumping her fist a few times at the end of the match.

The Indonesian girls later won their second singles and first doubles matches for two valuable points. Melvira Oklamano comfortably sealed her match 21-16, 21-13 while Aris Budiharti and Dian Fitriani needed three games to bag victory with a score of 21-19, 19-21, 19-21.

The boys’ team from Indonesia dominated in the doubles event, but struggled in the singles as they eventually lost with a combined score of 3-2.

Kasiyanto, one of the Indonesian coaches, felt disappointed with the performance of his teams in the competition. He mentioned that he did not bring his all of his first team players as some of them were playing in the Asian Youth Under-19 Championship in India. However, he added that this was no excuse for the team’s performance.

“We did not reach our target. The girls were understandably exhausted because we only had five players in our team so two of them (Dian Fitriani and Melvira Oklamano) had to play twice in the singles and doubles match(es),” he said.

“The boys team is a little uneven, but I have to say all of them gave their all for this tournament and also credit to Thailand for their good performance. Next year, the tournament will be in Indonesia and I am looking forward to get a better result there.”

The players will now be playing for individual glory next with the individual category semi-finals and finals on July 5 and 6 respectively.

Results
Boys Team (Malaysia vs Singapore)
1st singles: Tan Kian Meng lost to Ong Cheng Yuen 15-21, 19-21
1st doubles: Calvin Ong and Tan Wee Gien beat Ricky Alverino and Terry Hee 21-18, 21-15
2nd singles: Lim Chi Wing beat Sean Lee 21-15, 20-22, 21-14
2nd doubles: Cheong Yee Han and Soo Teck Zhi beat Poon Jet Sng and Shayne Tan 21-19, 21-8
3rd singles: Soo Teck Zhi beat Yoshiko Alexander 21-10, 21-16

Girls Team (Singapore vs Brunei)
1st singles: Emily Chua beat Amalina Aliah 21-2, 21-3
1st doubles: Joline Chua and Fiona Seah beat Amalina Aliah and Sazrulrinah 21-11, 21-10
2nd singles: Grace Chua beat Quini Arantxa 21-6, 21-4
2nd doubles: Nathaporn Triyachart and Citra Purti beat Munyati Abd Khamis and Nuraqilah Shahroney 21-5, 21-6
3rd singles: Marissa Ng beat Nuraqilah Shahroney 21-4, 21-6

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