HANOI - Singapore got its first gold medal in xiangqi at the SEA Games, after Alvin Woo beat Cambodia's Hok Kung 1-0 to finish top of the nine-person field on Friday (May 20).

Woo's gold medal at Legacy Yen Tu in Vietnam's Quang Ninh province is the Republic's fourth in xiangqi at this year's SEA Games.

He said: "It's the most important win. Because this is the SEA Games. It feels special and I hope that it means xiangqi will be given more coverage everywhere. I would love for that to happen."

Woo's gold wrapped up a successful debut for the four-strong Singaporean contingent, who will return home with four medals. The blitz team of Low Yi Hao, 29, and Ngo Lan Huong, 43, claimed a silver and there were bronzes from Ngo (women's standard singles) as well as Low and Woo (rapid team event). Fiona Tan, 31, finished sixth out of eight in the women's standard singles.

Woo and Co. are hoping their results will earn them a ticket to an even higher platform - the Asian Games. The quartet were not part of the 382 athletes in 29 sports selected by the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) for the now-postponed Asiad in Hangzhou.

But Woo confirmed that they will be submitting an appeal for inclusion to the SNOC based on their SEA Games results.