Story by Iman Hashim/Red Sports. Photos by Benedict Yeo/Red Sports.

Chong Wei Guan (SSP #43) edges ahead to win gold with a time of 14:61s while Randall Choo (HCI #281) settles for a second placing with a time of 14.70s. (Photo 1 © Benedict Yeo/Red Sports)

Bishan Stadium, Thursday, April 20, 2017 — Only 0.09 seconds separated the top two in the A Division 110 metres hurdles at the 58th National Schools Track and Field Championships.

Chong Wei Guan of Singapore Sports School emerged the victor in 14.61s, while Randall Choo of Hwa Chong Institution had to settle for silver. Isaac Toh of Raffles Institution clocked 15.49s to finish third.

It was a familiar feeling of deja vu for Randall. This is the second time he has lost a 110m hurdles final by a close margin. In last year’s race, he clocked an identical timing of 14.70s, and lost out to Jared Chang, then of Victoria Junior College, by a hundredth of a second.

By contrast, Wei Guan’s winning time is a new personal best and also earned him his first gold medal in the annual national schools championships. It improved on his previous mark of 14.81s, clocked last month at the 43rd Singapore Athletics U18/U20 Championships.

On his mindset going into the race, Wei Guan said, “I was confident of the gold, but you cannot be over confident. That’s because in a hurdles race, if you make a mistake, that’s it. So I was confident, yes, but I was focused too.”

Wei Guan also acknowledged the close competition between him and Randall.

“I feel that (Randall) has improved a lot,” Wei Guan said. “I raced him when I was in Secondary Three – he wasn’t very good then, but he ran an amazing race today. Without him, I don’t think I would have run a very good race.”

Wei Guan has also qualified for the 2nd Asian Youth Athletics Championships happening in Bangkok next month, and hopes to do very well for it.

For now, he has his sights set on the A Division boys’ 100m final, for which he has qualified as the fourth-fastest with a time of 11.25s. The event will take place on April 28 at the National Stadium.

Relishing the chance to compete at the 55,000 capacity stadium, Wei Guan said, “I don’t have very high expectations and I’m not very confident of a medal. But reaching the final is very good, because it will be at the Sports Hub and it will be a really good atmosphere to run in.”

A Division Boys 110m Hurdles – Top 8
1st Chong Wei Guan (#43, Singapore Sports School) – 14.61 seconds
2nd Randall Choo (#281, Hwa Chong Institution) – 14.70
3rd Isaac Toh Beam (#160, Raffles Institution) – 15.49
4th Loh Yuan Yee (#242, Anglo-Chinese Junior College) – 15.79
5th Brennick Neo (#224, Victoria Junior College) – 15.95
6th Colin Tung (#162, Raffles Institution) – 16.03
7th Loo Guan Lin (#270, Hwa Chong Institution) – 16.66
8th Zachary Lau (#294, Hwa Chong Institution) – 17.96

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