Asian Youth Games (AYG)

lianamaster SG

Asian Youth Games: Singapore bowler New Hui Fen wins country's first gold medal

SINGAPORE: Singapore has won its first gold medal at the inaugural Asian Youth Games (AYG), and achieving that feat was bowler New Hui Fen in the girls' singles event.

The 16-year-old Sports School student recently won the Malaysian Open Girls' Masters Championship, and she continued her winning ways at the AYG, scoring 1,359 pinfalls in total for the gold.

Japan's Misaki Mukotani won silver with 1314 pinfalls and Korea's Oh Nu Ri took the bronze with a score of 1308 pinfalls.

New's win was all the more sweet as the president of Singapore Bowling had pledged S$2,000 and an equal amount was contributed by Orchid Bowl. The competition was held at the Orchid Country Club.

New said: "I just focused on my pre-shot routine and… just concentrated on each frame, and not the whole game itself."

Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said: "This is great news, we are all very happy with that but I also want to add that the entire Singapore team is doing well. Our sailors are nicely positioned, and the table tennis team… I'm sure (they) will make good progress. I just want all Singaporeans to really come out and support Team Singapore."

And Team Singapore's bowlers are expected to add to the medal tally over the next few days of competition.

Hong Kong also won its first gold, when Michael Mak topped the boys' singles with a total of 1,396 pinfalls. South Korea's Park Ji-Soo was second with 1381, while his compatriot Hwang Dong-jun took the bronze.

- CNA

QX179R SG

Asian Youth Games: Singapore wins bronze medals in pole vault, long jump

SINGAPORE: Singapore has won its first medals in the Asian Youth Games, athletics arena, at the Bishan Stadium.

Pole vaulter Shawn Lim Ziqing and long jumper Melissa Wu both grabbed bronze medals in their events on Tuesday.

Lim was third behind Taiwan's Chi Chien Hao and Japan's gold medallist Sho Hibasa. He cleared a height of 4.3 metres and lost the silver on a count back.

Wu claimed bronze after jumping a distance of 4.94 metres. Qatar's Peyma Alen Thomas won silver with 5.06 metres, while Thai athlete Pennatta Tantragool clinched the gold medal with a distance of 5.58 metres.

- 938LIVE

lianamaster SG

Asian Youth Games: Singapore's keglers score second gold for republic

SINGAPORE: Singapore has won its second gold medal at the inaugural Asian Youth Games (AYG), thanks again to kegler New Hui Fen.

Together with partner Darshini Krishna, the duo took first place in the girls' doubles bowling event on Thursday morning.

The girls scored 2,680 pinfalls - 101 clear over closest rivals Thailand. And they were a tough act to beat, leading the scoreboard through all six games.

This latest victory is certainly no lucky strike for 16-year-old New, who had won the girls' singles title on Wednesday.

New said: “As the event went on, I felt more confident about the game, about my opponents, and I enjoyed (playing with) my teammate. We just had to do our best as like our usual times - nothing but 100 per cent."

Krishna said: "I'm very excited as it was my first time bowling in a major game and winning a gold in doubles."

The Thais, comprising Sathean Tanaprang and Saebe Yanee, had a relatively slow start, but eventually secured the silver, while South Korea’s Oh Nu-Ri and Sim Ui-Jin, who played a steady game throughout, settled for the bronze.

Singapore's boys team also performed well, earning a bronze in the doubles event.

- CNA

lianamaster SG

Asian Youth Games: Swimmer claims 3rd gold for Singapore

SINGAPORE: Singapore struck gold the third time at the inaugural Asian Youth Games (AYG) as swimmer Lynette Lim powered ahead in the girls' 400-metre freestyle competition.

It was the first gold in the swimming competition which started on Thursday evening.

16-year-old Lim took an early lead and was soon far ahead of the pack. She finished the event in 4:14.25, more than six seconds ahead of her nearest competitor, Benjaporn Sriphano from Thailand.

Singapore won its second gold medal earlier Thursday, thanks again to kegler New Hui Fen.

It's deja-vu for New, as she claimed her second AYG gold medal in two days. This time, she partnered Darshini Krishna to win gold in the Girls Doubles bowling event.

The duo scored 2,680 pinfalls, 101 clear of closest rivals Thailand. The Singaporeans were a tough pair to beat, having led the scoreboard through all six games.

The latest victory was certainly no lucky strike for 16-year-old New, who had won the Girls' Singles title a day earlier.

New said: "As the event goes on, I feel more confident about the game, about my opponents, and I enjoy (playing with) my teammate. We just had to do our best as like our usual times - nothing but 100 percent."

Darshini said: "I'm very excited as it's my first time bowling in a major game and winning a gold in doubles."

The Thai pair of Sathean Tanaprang and Saebe Yanee had a relatively slow start, but they eventually secured the silver, while South Korea's Oh Nu-Ri and Sim Ui-Jin, who played a steady game throughout the event, settled for the bronze.

Singapore's Boys Team also performed well, earning a bronze in the Doubles event.

- CNA

Bus&Soccer l0v3r (VO3x 1) SG

Gratz Singapore

so how many medal they won?

lianamaster SG

Gratz Singapore

so how many medal they won?

Currently ranked 4th with 3 GOLDs and 5 BRONZES.

Well Done Singapore!

QX179R SG

Asian Youth Games: Beached by inexperience

SINGAPORE: It was hardly perfect weather for a day at the beach on Wednesday.

The sun stayed hidden for the most part over Sentosa, on the first day of the Asian Youth Games beach volleyball competition, and the heavens opened for a brief while in the late morning, just enough to harden the usually soft white sands of Siloso Beach.

But that did little to help Mongolian duo Nomio Ragchaabazar and Namuun Altansukh, who played their first match just before noon and went down 21—13, 21—7 to Singapore’s Tan Yi Ting and Dorita Peng.

Despite the defeat, the Mongolian girls were all smiles as they posed for pictures with 17—year—old Dorita and 16—year—old Yi Ting and soaked up the atmosphere.

"This is our first competitive beach volleyball game," said Nomio.

"Playing volleyball on sand is different and we were a bit nervous.

"The Singapore team was too strong, but we hope to do better in our next match."

There are no beaches in landlocked Mongolia, and the inexperience of 17—year—olds Nomio and Namuun showed against the more seasoned Yi Ting and Dorita.

Last year, the Singaporean pair won the inter—school beach volleyball competition for Presbyterian High School.

The Mongolians did give the local favourites an early scare when they took a 3—1 lead.

But after drawing level at 7—7, Yi Ting and Dorita never looked back.

"We were nervous initially, but we managed to calm down when we took the lead," said Singapore’s No 1 Yi Ting, who credited the victory to good communication.

Indeed, the duo’s voices reverberated around centre court at Siloso as they shouted instructions to each other.

They face Kazakhstan at 10am on Thursday in a battle for top spot in Group G.

But the competition is over for Nomio and Namuun, who were beaten 21—10, 21—7 by Kazakhstan in their second game on Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Republic’s boys’ team of Qing Shan and Melvin Goh bounced back from an opening 21—17, 21—14 loss to Sri Lanka to beat Japan 21—14, 21—18 later in the day in Group B action.

They face Saudi Arabia on Thursday at 11am needing a win to qualify for the knock—out stages.

— TODAY

QX179R SG

Chairman of 2012 London Olympics in Singapore for AYG

SINGAPORE: The chairman of the 2012 London Olympics said the global financial crisis has had no impact on its preparations.

Sebastian Coe, who is in Singapore for the inaugural Asian Youth Games, told Channel NewsAsia on Thursday that plans for the London Games are on track.

Almost four years ago in Singapore, London won the right to host the 2012 Olympics and Coe, a double Olympic champion, was instrumental in helping the city clinch victory.

The London Games’ chief said: "We’ve raised more money than any other host city at this point. The economic downturn, which is always going to be a challenge for everybody, has so far not really affected us.

"That’s in large part due firstly to early planning, secondly to the quality and strength of the Olympic brand because people are investing in the Olympic Games as sponsors. They understand the vision behind the Games and that’s very powerful for us.

"We’ve set ourselves a target of about 680 million pounds. We are in and around the 500—million mark, with three years to go."

Coe also said Asia’s emergence as a world superpower is important in promoting sports.

"I suppose the process really began in 1988, in Seoul, with the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Asia has built on that. The Beijing Games was a seismic jump forward and the Games itself was the largest, most impactful Games of all time — in television numbers, in terms of medals, the number of women competing, the number of national Olympic committees," he said.

While in Singapore, Coe and his team will update the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), which is a sporting body that controls all sports in Asia, on the progress of preparations for the 2012 Olympics.

On a separate note, Coe said he is impressed by Singapore’s staging of the Asian Youth Games and believes the Republic is already a destination for major sporting events.

"If a city, a country, is prepared to invest in events, it also means they understand there is a commitment beyond those events to other things that happen in sports," he said.

"I went to the track and field championships yesterday and thought they were remarkably organised. All the events went off on time, there were good facilities, good warm—up areas. Clearly, a lot of thought had gone into recognising that the athletes are the most important part of this whole process."

— CNA/so

QX179R SG

Asian Youth Games: China dominate track and field

SINGAPORE: They are the biggest rivals on the Asian stage. Over recent years though, China have clearly become the leading nation in sport, with Japan battling it out with South Korea behind it.

The inaugural Asian Youth Games here is no different, with the Chinese leading the overall tally with 13 gold medals, nine more than Japan and 10 more than South Korea.

The track and field competition began on Tuesday, with 18 gold medals up for grabs in the first three days of competition. To date, China have plundered seven gold medals at Bishan Stadium.

In the nine events on Thursday, Chinese featured in five of them, and they won all five gold medals. Their boys won the 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles and long jump, while the girls bagged gold in the discus and 400m hurdles.

Not one of the Chinese winners on Thursday took their success for granted.

"A lot of the athletes here have shown that they have good potential. I can’t say for sure that China will dominate the athletics programme tomorrow, but all of us will definitely try our best," said Cheng Yafan, winner of the 400m hurdles for girls in a time of 1 minute 2.15 seconds.

Huang Haibing, who took the long jump (boys) gold with a leap of 7.28 metres, added: "It looks like Japan will be our closest challengers."

Japanese athletes won the boys’ 400m and girls’ 100m hurdles. So far, they have won three golds in athletics entering the final day of track and field today.

Singapore’s Inez Leong came in third in the girls’ 100m hurdles, making it three bronze medals for the hosts on the penultimate day of athletics.

— TODAY

QX179R SG

AYG Day 3 Review

Over to the Asian Youth Games,

North Korea are through to the semi-finals of the Football competition.

Last night, they beat Laos 4-2 while South Korea hammered Saudi Arabia 5-0.

That allowed both Korean teams to advance to tomorrow's semi-finals.

Over to swimming,

Team Singapore ended day 1 of their campaign with a gold medal from Lynette Lim.

In the Girls 400 metres freestyle, the 16 year-old swam home in a time of 4 minutes, 14.25 seconds to beat her nearest rival by almost 6 bodylengths.

Lynette's team-mate Koh Hui Yu just missed out on the medals when she finished in 4th place.

In the Boys 400 meters freestyle finals, Singapore's Clement Lim finished in 5th place.

And in the Boys 200meters Butterfly Final, the Republic's Joseph Schooling finished in last position.

Meanwhile,

Local duo Rainer Ng and Yeo Jia Chen did well in the semi-finals and qualified for this evening's finals of the 100 meters backstroke.

Table tennis is next,

And Singapore beat Kuwait 3-0 in the mixed team event to book their place in the quarter-finals.

Our young paddlers qualified at the top of their group, with 4 straight wins at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall.

And from 9am onwards today, they'll face India for a place in the semis.

Elsewhere,

Singapore sailor Darren Choy is holding strong in the Byte C2 Class event.

In yesterday's action at East Coast Parkway, Darren came out tops in Race 6 and he finished 2nd in race 7.

And with only 4 races remaining, Darren still holds a 3 point lead over nearest rival, Supakon Pongwichean of Thailand.

Over in the Girls category,

Singapore's Najwa Jumali has dropped to 3rd place after yesterday's performances.

In Race 6, Najwa was 3rd followed by her 4th place finish in race 7.

That's allowed Najwa to fall 6 points behind the Thai leader, Jittitwa.

Onto the Bic Techno 293 windsurfing event,

The Republic's Audrey Yong is in 3rd place while her male counterpart Chuan Juan Ler is lying in last place after 6 races.

Onto Athletics,

Singapore won a bronze medal in the Girls' 100m Hurdles at the Bishan Stadium.

Inez Leong ran home in 3rd place with a time of 15.22 seconds.

She was behind Japan's Mayu Ueda, who claimed gold in 14.18 seconds.

In the Boys 100meter Hurdles,

China's Lu Jia Teng ran home to take gold in a time of 13.96secs while in the 400meter Boys final, Singapore's Jared Lim finished in 6th place in a time of 50.88 seconds.

Japan 's Masanori Oishi struck gold with a time of 48.92 seconds

And in the boy's Javelin Finals,

India's Rohid Kumar threw a distance of 74.70 metres to clinch the gold.

Onto shooting at SAFRA Yishun,

And Singapore's Abel Lim claimed a Bronze in the 10meters Air Rifle Junior Boys category.

Abel 's score of 685.6 was only 0.6 points behind the tie for first place between China’s Wu Jia Ning and Gao Ting Jie.

But Jian Ning snatched the gold in a shoot-off by scoring 0.2 points more than Ting Jie.

And in beach volleyball action at Sentosa,

Singapore's Dorita Peng and Tan Yi Ting have been knocked out of the Girls event, after losing to Indonesia in straight sets.

But over in the Boys event,

The Republic's Melvin Goh and Qing Shan defeated Saudi Arabia 2-1.

They'll next face Oman in for a place in the quarterfinals later this morning.

Wrapping up with our Bowlers as Darshini Krishna and New Hui Fen came in first place in the girls' doubles event.

The duo scored 2,680 pinfalls - 101 clear over closest rivals Thailand.

Hui Fen also won Singapore's first gold medal yesterday in the singles event.

Looking at the overall medal tally,

China lead with 13 Gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals,

South Korea are 2nd with 4 gold, Japan are 3rd with 3 gold and Singapore are in 4th place with 3 gold and 5 bronze medals.

--938Live

QX179R SG

Asian Youth Games: Swimmer Quah Ting Wen clinches 4th gold for Singapore

SINGAPORE: Singapore won its fourth gold at the Asian Youth Games on Friday. Swimmer Quah Ting Wen, 16, clinched the gold for Singapore when she came out tops in the Girls' 200-metre freestyle.

Quah trailed her Korean opponent for 150 metres before pulling ahead towards the end to finish with a timing of 1:59.21 minutes.

Following closely behind her was Korea's Kim Junghye who clinched the silver medal with a timing of 1:59.93 minutes. Kim's fellow countrywoman, Kim Seoyeong, took the bronze medal with a timing of 2:01.92 minutes.

Singapore also bagged five bronze medals on Friday - three from swimming, one from athletics and another from table tennis.

Two of the bronzes came from the 50-metre breaststroke in both the Boys' and Girls' events. They were won by Lionel Khoo and Roanne Ho respectively.

The third bronze came from Rainer Ng Kai Wee in the Boys' 100-metre backstroke.

Singapore's fourth bronze of the day was won by the boys in the 4x100-metre freestyle relay when they came in fourth in the event.

Singapore also bagged a bronze from the mixed table-tennis team, after losing to China in the semifinals.

China was just too strong for Team Singapore in the match played at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall.

China's Chen Meng whipped Isabelle Li in straight sets, winning 3-0. However Clarence Chew salvaged some pride for Singapore by winning one set although he eventually lost 1-3 to Cheng Jing Qi.

Despite the defeat, the Singapore players were happy with their performance.

Clarence said: "Playing against China, there's no pressure for me. So I gave it all out."

Isabelle said: "Overall I think I played quite well. But I think I attacked too much at the end."

The other bronze in the event went to Chinese Taipei players who lost to North Korea.

- CNA/ir

QX179R SG

Asian Youth Games: Fina presidential hopeful Maglione impressed

SINGAPORE: It was a brief three-day stop, but the man who could be the next chief of swimming left the Republic impressed.

Fina honorary treasurer Julio Cesar Maglione (picture), who is running for the presidency at the federation's general congress in Rome on July 24, was struck by the way the inaugural Asian Youth Games had been organised, particularly the swimming competition.

"All the necessary facilities needed for an excellent championship are here," Dr Maglione, 73, told Today during Friday's swimming competition at the Singapore Sports School. "And it helps that the standard of competition has been very good. I enjoyed every single race I saw (over the past two days)."

Dr Maglione, who is also Uruguay's International Olympic Committee member, is set to replace outgoing Fina chief Mustapha Larfaoui as he is the sole candidate so far. "If I become Fina president, my goal is to help promote all five disciplines of aquatics" he said.

"Fina has 204 affiliates, and it is important to support youth development across the five disciplines."

- TODAY

QX179R SG

Asian Youth Games: Table tennis team through to semi-finals in mixed team event

SINGAPORE : Buoyed by the cheers of a 500-strong crowd - including 200 schoolmates from the Singapore Sports School - the Republic's table tennis team of Clarence Chew, Tay Jit Kiat, Isabelle Li and Chau Haiqing went through to the semi-finals in the mixed team event at the inaugural Asian Youth Games on Friday.

Clarence and Isabelle combined to dispatch fifth seeded India 3-0 in the morning, but unfortunately, the hosts met the world's leading table tennis nation China in the last four.

The top seeds posted a clinical 2-0 win over Singapore who, along with Taiwan, collected bronze as the rules stipulated no play-off for third place.

While China battle North Korea in Sunday's final, the big task for the Singapore team will be preparing for next year's Youth Olympic Games, which will be held here from Aug 14-26.

Coach Xu Xiangdong believes the team is in good shape.

"Over the past two days, I've been happy with their mental development and they're doing very well," he said. "Especially with them playing such a big competition on home soil, there's definitely pressure, but they've dealt with it well.

"This will help the team in the Youth Olympics, as it gives them big-match experience. It's good training for them, and will help in their development as players."

- TODAY

QX179R SG

Asian Youth Games: Crowd helps Singapore swimmer post thrilling win

SINGAPORE : If Singapore swim star Quah Ting Wen goes on to dominate the Asian Youth Games swimming competition, she will have to thank the crowd at the Singapore Sports School for playing their part.

On Friday, the 17-year-old grabbed her first gold medal in a thrilling win.

She came from behind to clinch the girls' 200m freestyle gold with a new national record of 1:59.21s, breaking her previous national mark of 2:00.14 set three weeks ago at the Singapore National Swimming Championship.

South Korea's Kim Jung Hye (1:59.93) and Kim Seo Yeong (2:01.92) had to settle for silver and bronze, respectively.

Ting Wen's gold capped a fruitful outing for the hosts in the pool, after three bronze medals from Lionel Khoo (boys' 50m breaststroke), Roanne Ho (girls' 50m breaststroke) and Rainer Ng (boys' 100m backstroke).

Feeding off the crowd Ting Wen, the holder of four individual national records, trailed Jung Hye for two-thirds of the race.

But by the 150m mark, she had caught up to within 0.01s of the Korean, hitting the final turn at 1:28.88 to set up a thrilling finale in front of nearly 1,000 spectators.

"A lot was going through my mind (in the final 50m)," said Ting Wen.

"To my left, I could see my team-mates, to my right, I could see the spectators. All that pushed me to go as fast as I could. It's a load off my shoulders now as it was a big event for me."

Former Singapore backstroke star David Lim, her coach at Swimfast Aquatic Club, was never in any doubt.

"At the Singapore National Championships recently, she went out too fast and didn't have enough gas on the return," said Lim, who expects this result to improve Ting Wen's current world No 56 ranking.

"So my instructions was for her to save herself in the first 100m, and kick-in the last 50. And it was made easier as she is the type who follows instructions."

Ting Wen leaves for Rome on July 20 for the Fina World Championship, where she will compete in the 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle events.

But before that, she has some work to do here, with more events for her.

Ting Wen, who will race in the girls' 50m freestyle heats on Saturday, said: "Winning my first gold medal at the Asian Youth Games means a lot to me. It's just amazing."

- TODAY /ls

QX179R SG

Asian Youth Games: Japan's Masaki gets his gold, and toy

SINGAPORE : Shahrir Mohd Anuar shot off the starting block less than two-hundredths of a second after the starter's pistol went, fractionally faster than Japan's Masaki Nashimoto.

But that was the only time the 16-year-old was in front of the Japanese in the Asian Youth Games boys' 100m Final on Friday.

Just as he promised, Masaki burned rubber as he roared down the Bishan Stadium straight, hitting the tape ahead of the rest of the field to bag the gold medal in 10.82sec.

Thailand's Kittisak Phiraksa clocked 11.11s to pip Shahrir for the silver, with the Singaporean posting a time of 11.13s. The Hunabashi City High School student drowned out the "Shahrir, Shahrir" chant from the 2,000-strong partisan crowd, going faster than his qualifying time of 10.89s to take home the Games' most coveted individual medal and the Frasia soft toy (the Games mascot) he had promised his girlfriend.

While 15-year-old Masaki's race went according plan, the same could not be said of Shahrir. The Singapore Sports School student looked sluggish in the first 20 metres, then picked up the pace but just when it seemed he would finish behind the Japanese, he let silver slip.

"If there's one thing I regret, it's not seeing the Thai boy catching up at the end of the race," he said. "I prefer to be at the back in the first 20m, then to catch up at the 60m mark, but I probably should have driven harder at the start. That's probably why I couldn't catch up with Masaki."

Failed tactics aside, he admitted that he was struck by a bout of nerves.

"For the first time, I felt tense and a bit stressed before a race. Maybe it's because I was running on home soil, where there's a natural pressure to do well," he said. "At the start, the crowd was a bit distracting, but I have to say they were fantastic and I felt sorry that I had to block them out."

Whatever the reason, Shahrir's time in the final fell way short of his personal best of 10.90s. Asked if his runner had the mental toughness to become a top sprinter, coach Remy Gan only had one word: "Definitely."

Masaki has already promised his girlfriend a soft toy from next year's Youth Olympics, which Singapore will host from Aug 14-26. He wants gold again.

Singapore's hope Shahrir will meet him again, along with sprinters from the rest of the world. He has about a year to get his gameplan right.

- TODAY /ls

QX179R SG

Asian Youth Games: Singapore secures gold, silver in sailing

SINGAPORE: Singapore added a fifth gold medal to its tally at the Asian Youth Games on Sunday.

The latest gold came from sailing, courtesy of 15-year-old Sports School student, Darren Choy.

Getting off to a good start from race one, Choy maintained his lead for 9 races in the Boys' Byte CII Class event.

And he topped race 10 on Sunday, giving him the title, with a race to spare.

Choy has collected 10 points after 10 races, making him beyond the reach of his
second-placed opponent from Thailand.

Meanwhile, Singapore's Najwa Jumali, competing in the Girls' Byte CII Class, secured a silver, with race 11 to compete on Monday.

Home ground advantage was a factor in the Singapore sailors' good performances.

Choy said: "Basically, it's just consistency and knowing the course well, which I have known for five years. The main thing for me is boat technique. All you need for this regatta is boat speed. (You) don't really need to think so much, the race is very straight forward."

- CNA/ir

QX179R SG

Asian Youth Games: Singapore misses bronze medal in table tennis

SINGAPORE: Singapore came close to winning a bronze in table tennis on Sunday.

But Isabelle Li lost in the quarter-finals of the girls' singles event.

Li, who had helped Singapore win a bronze in the mixed table tennis team event, was hoping for a second bronze when she took on North Korea's Kim Song I.

The match was tied 3-3 before the Korean went on to win the final set 11-7.

If Li had gone on to the semi-finals, she would have been assured of a bronze as there is no play-off for third spot in table tennis.

- CNA/ir

Bus and Train LoVuR SG

How many medals they have won and congrats to the medalist.

QX179R SG

How many medals they have won and congrats to the medalist.

singapore has 5 gold, 3 silver, 12 bronze..

Bus&Soccer l0v3r (VO3x 1) SG

may i ask did Malaysia Join the AYG? y didnt see they even get a medal?