18 sports
Saturday, June 13 2015 THENEWPAPER
sports 19
THENEWPAPER Saturday, June 13 2015
(JUNE 5-16)
Wakeboard queen delivers
PHOTOs: aCTION IMaGEs/sINGsOC, GaVIN FOO
Singapore sailing set for glorious weekend
Sasha overcomes the elements to strike gold for Singapore
Report by KOK YUFENG yufengk@sph.com.sg
One down, three to go. For this SEA Games, the Singapore Waterski and Wakeboard Federation had set an ambitious target of four gold medals out of the 11 available for the nine-strong Singaporean team. Yesterday, Sasha Christian — the pinup girl of Singapore wakeboarding — delivered the first. On a gloomy afternoon at the Bedok Reservoir where the persistent rain, strong headwinds and choppy waters made it extremely tough for the competitiors, Christian braved them all to win the women’s individual wakeboard final. While she could not match her semifinal score of 61.45 points, the 22-yearold Singaporean (right and inset on top) still left the rest trailing in her wake with her winning score of 59.00 points. Indonesian Galuh Mutiara Maulinda finished second with 43.11, while Filipino Jawn Maiquel Selga took the bronze with 30.89. Another Singaporean, Gooi Jia Yi, came in fourth with 30.22. “It was a good start,” said wakeboard coach Tan Suter after the victory ceremony. “It boosted up the morale of the whole team. “Sasha is the backbone of our team, so it’s good for her to lead by example.” The 44-year-old added: “I think she did pretty well given the conditions.”
Despite the bad weather, Christian managed to pull off a stand-up pass, completing all her tricks without falling into the water. The last to go onto the water in the six-woman field, Christian was able to complete two more successful inverts than the rest, flipping upside down in the air and landing convincingly. “An advantage for me was that I went off last from the dock, so I could see what all my rivals did, and I knew exactly what I needed to do to win,” Christian said. “I knew I needed to do at least three inverts, so after my pass, I was really happy and very relieved as well. “My first trick was the toughest trick to land, because it kind of sets the momentum for the rest of the competition pass.” “I like to start off my competition with a bang.” Winning her second wakeboarding gold medal at the SEA Games after collecting her first in Indonesia in 2011 (there was no water-skiing competition at the 2013 Games in Myanmar), Tan said Christian can achieve greater things. “She has got a lot more tricks actually, but she was holding them back. It was already enough to win the gold medal,” he said. “She needs to step it up just a touch if she wants to reach Asian standards. She’s not that far behind.” For now, Christian’s more pressing task is to help Singapore win more golds.
Report by BENJAMIN LIM benlim@sph.com.sg
WINNERS: Thailand’s Padiwat Jaemjan (centre) celebrates winning the gold medal with compatriot Tatsanai Kuakoonrat (left) and the Philippines’ bronze medallist Mark Howard Griffin (right) PHOTO: aCTION IMaGEs/sINGsOC
She topped both her semi-finals in the women’s team wakeboarding and the women’s slalom events yesterday, the latter of which could land her and Singapore another gold. The slalom finals will be held today. In 2011, Christian finished second in the event. “She put in more effort in training for the slalom (for this Games),” said Tan. “She really wants a gold in this event.” While Christian has certainly lived up to her tag as wakeboarding’s golden girl, her teammates also stepped up yesterday. Sabelle Kee won a bronze in the women’s tricks competition and, in the process, set a new national record of 2,620 points. The 17-year-old Games debutante beat the previous record, set by her mother May Lwin-Kwee in 1997 by 300 points. “I am super stoked because I didn’t expect it at all,” Sabelle said. “Of course, my mum’s a bit sad,” she added jokingly. “But she’s proud of me.”
Tatsanai signs off on a high Report by BENJAMIN LIM benlim@sph.com.sg
In a month’s time, he would receive his flying wings and embark on his new career as a commercial pilot. Tatsanai Kuakoonrat brought down the curtain on his wakeboarding career with one last hurrah yesterday, as he won a silver medal in the men’s wakeboard final at Bedok Reservoir to complete a one-two finish for Thailand. His compatriot and 2011 gold medallist Padiwat Jaemjan reclaimed his title with a score of 79.33, beating Tatsanai by 7.22 points. Mark Howard Griffin of the Philippines took the bronze. “This result shows how successful our country is at the sport,” Tatsanai told The New Paper yesterday. “It was an expected result, but still, we did really well today.” The 29-year-old would not be compeing at this year’s Games if not for an accident suffered by a teammate. That forced him to come out of re-
tirement and, although he had only a month’s training under his belt, Tatsunai managed to rise to the occasion. The silver medal is bittersweet as he calls it a day after these Games. “I know I still have it in me, but I have to take care of my body when I become a pilot. So it’s a shame to retire again,” he lamented. Tatsanai added that there are not enough young wakeboarders in his country to pass the torch to, and he hopes that the Thais’ results at the SEA Games will inspire more of his countrymen to take up the sport. On the other hand, the future of water-skiing seems bright for Malaysia with Aaliyah and Aiden Yoong Hanifah — half-siblings of former Formula 1 driver Alex Yoong. Aaliyah, only 11, showed exemplary skill and composure on her two runs, executing four spectacular flips to earn a resounding score of 4,850 points to win the gold medal in the open tricks category. Her nine-year-old brother, Aiden, was just as fearless, pulling off a clean
set of hand and toe tricks to win the bronze medal in the men’s event. Malaysia’s coach Larry Gisler said he was impressed by the duo’s performance. “We have to keep pushing Aaliyah. “Hopefully, in five years’ time, she will be in the top three in the world. “This bodes well for water-skiing in Malaysia. Today’s results show that the system is working, and we have four or five more students waiting to make their mark in the next few years.” Indonesia finished one-two in the men’s open tricks and gold medallist Febrianto Febrianto had full of praise for his compatriot Dimas Ridho Suprihono, who is only 14. “Dimas is really talented and he’ll definitely win more medals at the next SEA Games,” he said. “It’s important for Indonesia to groom new water-skiiers because although we’ve been quite good at the 2011 SEA Games, other countries like Malaysia and Singapore have caught up with us.”
Singapore currently sit top of the sailing medal standings at the SEA Games with five gold and three silver medals. There are 12 more medal events still to be decided over the next two days and the sailors from the host nation will be keeping an eye on rivals from Thailand and Malaysia, primarily. At least two gold medals for the Republic are assured today — one for Darren Choy and Jeremiah Yeo in the men’s 470, and for Jodie Lai in the Female Youth Optimist. The women’s 470 final will be another procession with all three positions confirmed after nine races — Malaysia first, Thailand second and Singapore third. All eyes will be on the Male Youth Optimist (under-16) final, as Singapore’s Daniel Ian Toh tries to play catch up against Malaysia’s Mohammad Fauzi Kaman Shah. All four races will be held at National Sailing Centre. Gold medals should be bagged by the hosts at Marina Bay tomorrow in the Male Laser Standard, Male and Female Keelboat and Female Laser Radial Team events, after Singapore’s sailors recorded zero losses so far in their round-robin races. Sealing the win in the Female Skiff 49erFX event is also a formality for Singapore’s Griselda Khng and Sara Tan.