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LEADING THE WAY
(Young Athletes Shine In Golf, Duathlon, Archery)
By Joshua Tan
Team Singapore's young athletes are making their presence felt, with the likes of golfer Goh Kun Yang, triathlete Alisa Ng (pix with team mates), archer Valerie Tan and swimmer Tao Li (pix) leading the way recently.
Golf
Kun Yang shone when he clinched the Malaysian Amateur Open in Kota Kinabalu. He scored a total of 286 to edge out India's Anirban Lahiri, Australia's Ray Beaufils and Philippines' Jay Bayron. The 18-year-old's achievement is all the more significant when one considers that he is only the second Singaporean to win the tournament after top golfer Mardan Mamat in 1994. With this win, the youngster has earned an invitation to November's Asian Senior Masters in Jakarta.
Duathlon
On her part, Alisa,18, made her mark at the Oakley City Duathlon which comprised a 10km run, 40 km of cycling and another 5km run right in the heart of the city in Singapore. The 2005 SEA Games triathlon bronze medallist finished fourth in a time of 2:33:59. Ahead of her were Malaysia's Kimberley Yap ( 2:26.23) and Mariana Mohammad (2:30:26) as well as China's former Olympian Wang Dan (2:30:34).
Archery
In archery, Nanyang Girls' High School student Valerie, just 15, created a stir when she shot 1,184 out of 1,440 points at the Zhenghua National Range to take pole spot in the women's recurve standings. This result, combined with the 1,158 she scored in an earlier meet, has put the former gymnast on course to become the youngest archer to represent Singapore at the SEA Games.
Swimming
In the pool, Tao Li has been making waves in various meets. In terms of qualification for this year's SEA Games in Thailand, for example, she recently clocked 2:19.19 for the 200m IM and 59.07 secs in the 100m fly to qualify with ease. Other swimmers who have qualified include Quah Ting Wen, Lynette Lim and Bryan Tay.
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