Thursday 28 March 2013
The Two Ngs Get Selangor Off To Golden Start In Diving
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| Simply superb: Ng Zheng Hao and sister Zheng Ni (inset) both struck springboard gold. |
SHAH ALAM: Hosts Selangor can thank the Ng siblings – Zheng Hao and Zheng Ni – for giving them a superb start by capturing the boys’ and girls’ Under-15 1m springboard titles in the MSSM (national schools) diving championships at the Shah Alam Aquatic Centre yesterday.
Zheng Hao clinched gold with a 220.35 total ahead of Negri Sembilan’s Mohd Danial Asyraf (200.85pts).
Sister Zheng Ni then showed why she was invited to join the national back-up squad in Bukit Jalil by chalking up 191.65 points to win the girls’ competition.
Zheng Ni, who accepted the invitation earlier this year, was delighted to have retained her title. “I’ll be competing in the 3m springboard and I hope to win it as well,” said Zheng Ni, who trains under Chinese coach Yao Fuling at Bukit Jalil and is inspired by what Pandelela Rinong has done for Malaysian diving.
“We’re proud to have an Olympic medallist training with us. She’s a good example for us,” added Zheng Ni, who won two bronze medals in synchro disciplines at the Kuantan Sukma last year.
Selangor had earlier bagged their first gold medal through Megan Elizabeth Teoh in the girls’ 12 and under 1m springboard event.
Keng Liat’s Proteges Eric and Chris Haul In Golds For Sabah
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| The terrific Tans: Eric (left) and Chris showing their gold medals at the Shah Alam Aquatic Centre Wednesday. — FAIHAN GHANI / The Star. |
Eric, the younger by two years, came out tops in the 50m backstroke (29.39) and 200m individual medley (2:15.48) in the boys’ 13-15 age-group.
His sister Chris, a gold medallist at the Kuantan Sukma last year, was equally dominant in the 16-18 age-group as she bagged gold medals in the 100m freestyle (1:00.82) and 50m backstroke (32.34).
She now has five gold medals, having earlier won the 100m and 200m backstroke as well as the 200m freestyle.
Eric is now determined to emulate his sister’s feat in the pool over the next two days.
“I’ve won a total of four gold medals so far. The other two came from the 50m and 100m butterfly, which are my strong events. I’ve not broken any records so far but I’m happy to have chalked up personal bests in the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley.
“I didn’t do well in last year’s meet in Kota Kinabalu but I’ve worked hard and am happy to get better results this time,” said Eric, who made his Sukma debut in Kuantan last year but did not win anything.
Eric has a chance to increase his tally as he still has the 50m freestyle and 200m butterfly.
Only one meet record sank in the pool yesterday – courtesy of Sarawak’s Welson Sim, who clocked 52.94 in the boys’ 16-18 100m freestyle. It erased Foo Jian Beng’s previous mark of 53.49 set in 2007.
It was Welson’s third record in as many days.
With two days of competition remaining, Selangor are on course to become overall champions. The hosts lead the medal standings with a 24-24-10 haul, with Sabah a distant second with 12-6-8. Sarawak are next with 11-15-11, followed by Kuala Lumpur with 11-5-8.
SWIMMING: Unfinished Business
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| Sabah siblings Eric (left) and Chris Tan both notched double victories to bring their individual gold medal hauls to four and five respectively. |
SARAWAK'S Welson Sim strengthened his claim for a spot in the Myanmar Sea Games squad this year when he continued his fine form in the Malaysia Schools Sports Council Swimming championships by breaking another long-standing tournament record yesterday.
Welson, who on Monday broke Daniel Bego's eight-year-old 200m freestyle mark, clinched gold in the boys Under-18 100m freestyle in a new record time of 52.94 seconds at the Darul Ehsan Aquatic Complex in Shah Alam.
The old mark of 53.49s was set by Selangor's Foo Jian Beng six years ago.
In second place was Penang's Alwyn Tan (54.00s) while Sarawak's Roydon Ong clinched bronze on 54.14s.
Despite the victory, the 16-year-old, who also won the 50m backstroke gold yesterday (28.29s), said he still has unfinished business at the tournament.
"It feels great to get my fourth gold medal here and also set a new personal best and record in the 100m freestyle," said the Bukit Jalil Sports School student, whose former personal best in the 100m freestyle was 53.36s.
"The freestyle is my favourite event and I want to win and hopefully break more records in the 50m (today) and 400m (tomorrow) freestyle events as well.
"I have never been to the Sea Games and would like to go this year. I am hoping to improve this year and make the team this time."
Meanwhile, Sabah siblings Eric and Chris Tan both notched double victories to bring their individual gold medal hauls to four and five respectively.
Eric (boys' Under-16) and Chris (girls' Under-18), who are coached by former Olympian Alex Lim Keng Liat, cruised to the 50m backstroke gold in 29.39s and 32.34s respectively.
Eric later added the 200m individual medley (2:15.48s) while Chris took the 100m freestyle in a time of 1:00.82s. She, however, had to settle for bronze in the 200m individual medley (2:28.68s).
In diving, Ng Zheng Ni eased to the girls under-15 1m springboard gold with a 191.65 score.
Second was Negri Sembilan's Aimi Nazifah Shaari (129.90) while Nur Amira Najha Tahir of Johor clinched bronze with 114.55.
Zheng Ni, who joined the national back-up squad in January, said she is hoping to repeat her double victory in the tournament last year.
"I did a few mistakes today (yesterday) but am happy to start the tournament with a win," said the 13-year-old, who won two bronze medals at the Malaysia Games in Pahang last year.
"I won two gold medals (in MSSM) last year and I hope to improve in the 3m springboard event (today) and defend both my gold here."
Her elder brother, Ng Zheng Hao, was also in impressive form as he clinched the boys' Under-15 1m springboard title with a score of 220.35.
Negri's Mohd Danial Asyraf Azmi took bronze on 200.85 while Federal Territories Abd Hafiz Abd Kahar finished third with 75.35.
The boys' Under-18 1m springboard saw Sarawak's Carlysle Chan take gold with a 309.30 score.
Silver went to Slyvester Gaing Peter Jawa (262.50) while Negri's Adzhar Imran Rusli took bronze on 257.70s.
FT's Hanis Nazirul Jayasurya, who won the 1m springboard on Tuesday, completed a clean sweep in the boys Under-12 competition when he clinched the 3m springboard gold with 279.45, ahead of Sabah's Jellson Jabilliin (235.20) and Farez Izzudin Suhaimi who took bronze on 213.30s.
In the final round of group matches in water polo, defending champions Malacca maintained their 100 per cent record with a 23-10 win over Sabah.
FT rebounded from their 16-3 defeat to Malacca on Tuesday to advance to the semi-finals with a 16-8 win over Perak while Negri, also unbeaten in the tournament, eased past Penang 22-6.
Malacca will play Selangor while FT are set to face Negri in the semi-finals today.
Read more: SWIMMING: Unfinished business - Other - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/sports/other/swimming-unfinished-business-1.243323#ixzz2OtUitMCt
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