SINGAPORE - Singapore wushu exponent Samuel Tan finished second out of eight competitors in the SEA Games men's third taijiquan final to clinch the silver medal on Tuesday morning (Aug 22).
Tan, 20, finished with a score of 9.52 behind Malaysia's Loh Jack Chang (9.66) and ahead of Myanmar's Khant Min Htet (9.36).
Singapore's Chan Jun Kai finished fifth of eight in the same event, scoring 9.34.
Tan said: "I'm quite satisfied with the result as I made a mistake. I had a bad landing but managed to have a good save, so they only deducted marks in my execution. I wanted to do more but at least it was a good experience for the future."
He had previously won the silver in taijiquan at the 2015 Games held in Singapore.
Tan was experiencing pain in his gluteus maximus and hamstrings late last year, and found out that it was not a muscular injury he was suffering from. Instead, he had a slipped disc and went for surgery to fix it.
"Going into the competition, I didn't expect much as I had surgery quite recently. Defending the medal is a bonus and I'm happy with the result."
Looking forward, Tan hopes to compete in the Asian Games as well as the next SEA Games but sees challenges ahead of him.
Currently in his second year studying medicine at the National University of Singapore, commitment to wushu will be challenging in the coming semesters.
He said: "For now it's not too bad, it's all lectures and tutorials in school, but clinicals will be coming up in year three.
"Wushu trainings are at night and we have to fulfil attendance for qualification to competitions, so I'm a little worried especially with the clinicals coming."
In addition, Singapore's Ho Lin Ying claimed the bronze medal in the women's taijijian final, scoring 9.44. She finished behind Philippines' Agatha Chrystenzen (9.66) and Brunei's Basma Lachkar (9.54). Defending champion Vera Tan finished fourth out of 10 competitors with a score of 9.42.
The silver and bronze medals added to the wushu team's overall medal tally of one gold and four bronzes.
