ASEAN SCHOOLS GAMES 2013

2 July 2013

Yen Mei bags gold in ASEAN meet in Hanoi

KUALA LUMPUR: Youngster Ho Yen Mei got a timely boost ahead of the Asian Junior Championships when she nailed the girl’s singles title in the Asean Schools Games at Hanoi, which ended on Sunday.

 

Yen Mei, an aspiring badminton shuttler from Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS), staved off strong resistance from compatriot Yap Rui Chen 21-19, 17-21, 21-14 in the final.

She will now head to Sabah with extra impetus to show that Malaysia have talents in the girls singles department when she takes part in the Asian Junior meet starting on July 7. Malaysia have never featured in the final of the girls’ singles event.

The 17-year-old Yen Mei will be joined by five other singles shuttlers — Rui Chen, Sylvia Kavita Kumares, S. Kisona, Lee Zii Yii and Lee Ying Ying for the Asian junior meet.

Meanwhile, in the Asean Schools Games, Malaysia also won another gold medal in badminton through the boys’ doubles Chua Khek Wei-Mohammad Amzzar.

Malaysia returned home from the Asean meet with a medal haul of 25-30-30 to finish second overall behind champions and hosts Vietnam. Vietnam ended the Games with a massive haul of 50-27-23 to top the eight-country field.

Besides badminton, the other sports contested were aquatics, athletics, basketball, volleyball, table tennis, sepak takraw, pencak silat and artistic gymnastics

BADMINTON (TEAM) FINALS

BADMINTON (TEAM) FINALS  (Courtesy from ASG 2011 Website)
by Karen Gwee, Raffles Institution

The Yio Chu Kang Sports Hall was a hive of activity even before the start of the Badminton team finals of the ASEAN School Games (ASG). Players from Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia were practising their strokes on the courts, which would soon bear witness to a series of intense, high-octane badminton matches.

After three hours of intense competition, Thailand emerged as champions, with both the boys and girls teams beating Indonesia 3-2. Thailand’s team spirit was evident from the loud cheers of from the stands. Their shuttlers shouted and pumped their fists at every hard-earned point, and their determination won over many members of the audience, which mainly comprised Singaporean students.

However, Indonesia refused to be intimidated. Most memorable was the first singles match between Natnicha of Thailand and Dian Fitriani of Indonesia. Both players lunged for every point, falling down many times. They celebrated every point and shook their heads in disappointment at their mistakes. Natnicha won her match 16-21, 23-21, 23-21, while Indonesia had to settle for joint-2nd Runners-Up with host country Singapore.

The Singaporean girls’ team trounced Brunei 5-0, a feat Singaporean shuttler Marissa Ng put down to mental preparation. ‘I told myself to relax and to try for every point,’ Marissa said after her match, which she won 21-4, 21-6. However, the boys’ team lost to neighbours Malaysia 1-4, making Malaysia the second runners-up. Ong Cheng Yuen of Singapore summed up his strategy in two words - ‘Just fight’. This proved effective as he achieved the lone Singapore win over Malaysia with a score of 21-15, 21-19.

In the aftermath of the matches, the fierce rivalry between the teams was nowhere to be seen. Mingling, joking and taking pictures with one another, it seemed that the intensity of their matches had only served to forge stronger bonds between the shuttlers, keeping the ASEAN spirit alive and well.