Singapore win three silvers, five bronzes at Asian Open Short Track Trophy

SINGAPORE – With the Republic’s only Olympic-sized ice rink shut in August, Singapore’s short track speed skaters faced a challenging preparation for the Aug 31-Sept 2 Asian Open Short Track Trophy.

But they were determined not to let that affect them and found ways around it. For instance, they trained with inline skates on land and travelled to Bangkok a week before the competition to get some time on the ice rink.

Their perseverance was rewarded as Singapore clinched eight medals – three silvers and five bronzes – at the IWIS International Training Centre in Bangkok, the biggest haul since the country started fielding skaters for the competition in 2014.

Raeon Zhang, who won silvers in the men’s junior D2 333m and 777m, said: “It shows that dedication and hard work do pay off even though we did not have any ice training for the past one month.

“It also shows the faith and belief coach Zhao (Yanzhi) had in me when she told me to aim for at least a podium finish for all my events.”

The nine-year-old, who took up the sport in 2019, was nervous going into his first international overseas competition.

The Primary 4 pupil at Greenwood Primary School said: “I was feeling very scared and nervous before I came for the competition as I had not been practising on ice for the past month.

“Furthermore, most of the competitors in my group were older and stronger than me.”

But Raeon quickly put those jitters aside to deliver medal-winning performances in personal-best times.

He clocked 1min 30.692sec in the longer event to finish between Hong Kong’s Karl Man (1:30.549) and Cheung Hau Yau (1:34.949).

In the shorter distance, his time of 36.890 seconds also placed him behind Karl (36.630sec) and ahead of Hau Yau (38.880sec).

Also impressing in Singapore’s team of 11 skaters was Braelynn Nga. Like Raeon, she was competing in her first international overseas event.

The 11-year-old clinched silver in the women’s junior D 777m after clocking 1:27.251. Australia’s Sophie Jeon took gold in 1:24.425, with Thailand’s Pimchanok Suvanprakorn (1:29.392) bagging bronze.

The Primary 5 Fairfield Methodist School pupil said: “I felt nervous and a little unprepared due to lack of ice training for a month prior to the competition.

“But I put in my best and learnt from my experience. I am also glad that I made new friends and built a strong rapport with my teammates.”

The Republic’s bronzes were won by Lavelle Zhang (women’s junior C 500m), Loh Geok Qin (women’s junior C 1,000m), Keegen Chan (men’s junior B 1,500m), Amelia Chua (women’s junior B 500m) and Chloe Luai (women’s junior A 1,000m).

Singapore team leader Alicia Tan said: “This is Singapore’s best showing at the Asian Open, and I am very pleased at the fighting spirit displayed by all our skaters.

“In addition to the medals, our skaters clocked 12 new personal bests during the competition.

“The extra effort plus the will to press on and do their best have paid off.”