By REDintern Tay Jun Wen
Soh Rui Yong cruising to his second gold medal with a time of 15:58.77. (Photo 1 © Wayne Sim/ Red Sports)
ITE College East, Saturday, February 2, 2013 – Soh Rui Yong outlasted twins Tan Lui Hua of Temasek Polytechnic (TP) and Tan Lui Ran of Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) to win the 5000m with a time of 15 minutes 58.77 seconds at the Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Track and Field Championships.
Lui Hua was second with a time of 16:24.73 while Lui Ran finished third in 16:48.78.
Rui Yong took the lead from the start, with his National University of Singapore (NUS) teammate, Su Yen Bing, following closely behind. Lui Hua and Lui Ran were behind Yen Bing and the four of them soon distanced themselves from the chasing pack.
“I was practicing a new tactic which was to start slow and pick up quickly. This is to simulate the South-East Asian (SEA) Games whereby the competitors would pick up their pace at the end,” said Rui Yong.
Just after the 2500m mark, Yen Bing started to fall behind, with Lui Hua and Lui Ran overtaking him. At this point, Rui Yong also made his move, opening up his stride, picked up his pace and pulled away from the twins to win comfortably.
Lui Ran said: “I didn’t feel too good when the race started. I felt really tired halfway through the race.”
He felt that the pace was good for him but it was hard to catch and keep up with Rui Yong towards the end.
His brother, Lui Hua, also found the race to be a challenge.
“I was worn out from the heats,” said Lui Hua.
Lui Hua added that he tried to follow Rui Yong’s pace but it was very tiring as he had never done such a pace before. For his pains, Lui Hua’s timing of 16:24.73 was a new personal best.
The twins are headed for National Service soon and will continue to take part in public races.
For Rui Yong, he has set his sights on defending his title at the upcoming Swift Athletics Association’s Cross Country Championships.
Men’s 5000m Finals (Top 10)
1st Soh Rui Yong (#1183, National University Singapore) – 15:58.77
2nd Tan Lui Hua (#1394, Temasek Polytechnic) – 16:24.73
3rd Tan Lui Ran (#1079, Ngee Ann Polytechnic) – 16:46.78
4th Nabin Parajuli (#1224, Nanyang Polytechnic) – 17:31.69
5th Su Yen Bing (#1181, National University Singapore) – 17:33.41
6th Lim Peng Kai (#1126, Nanyang Technological University) – 17:35.55
7th Muhammad Nashiruddin (#1225, Nanyang Polytechnic) – 17:36.84
8th Lim Tien Aik Danny (#1289, Singapore Institute of Management) – 17:52.50
9th Chiang Zhen Hao (#1288, Singapore Institute of Management) – 18:02.95
10th Muhammad Zahir (#1127, Nanyang Technological University) – 18:33.00
Leave A Comment