Double delight for Singapore's ice-skaters
Republic bag two titles to top Games' ice-skating tally with 4 golds and 1 bronze
Singapore's Cheyenne Goh won her second SEA Games gold medal in two days by clinching the women's 1,000m short track speed skating title yesterday.
Her victory was the first of two for Singapore's ice skaters, as the men's 3,000m relay team edged out Thailand to help the Republic top the winter sports medal tally with four golds and one bronze.
Goh - the Republic's first Winter Olympian - won the 500m event and was part of the women's 3,000m relay team who finished third at the SM Megamall Ice Rink in Manila on Tuesday.
Yesterday, she won the 1,000m title in 1min 39.272sec, ahead Indonesia's Nur Indah Ratu (1:41.314), Dione Tan (1:41.674) of Malaysia and six others.
"I'm really happy and it definitely was a relief to get the other gold," the 20-year-old Goh told The New Paper in a phone interview.
"I was under a little pressure but, overall, everything went really well like how I intended for it to go and I'm happy with how I performed."
Of the team's overall showing at the Games, the Canada-based Goh said: "I'm happy with what we have achieved, it was a really nice way to end."
The men's quartet comprising Zen Koh, Lucas Ng, Trevor Tan and Xu Jing Feng won the 3,000m relay in 4:23.256, ahead of Thailand (4:24.549) and Indonesia (4:24.780).
Earlier, Trevor and Jing Feng had also participated in the men's 1,000m short track speed skating semi-finals, but both did not advance after being penalised for impeding.
However, Trevor, 17, did not let the disappointment stand in his way and stayed positive.
"I tried to just forget about my individual performances and focused on the relay and do the best I can. I was always positive, before and during the race."
Staying positive and supportive have played a key role in Singapore's improved haul of medals from the last Games where they won one gold, five silvers and a bronze, said team manager Elly Tan.
"All nations performed better as compared to 2017, so everyone was pleased with the results," said the 28-year-old.
"Almost half of our team are making their debut and they just focused on being positive and doing their best.
"Also many of them are very young and enthusiastic, so they were very eager to perform.
"They are also very supportive, it's really nice to see them in the locker room encouraging one another."
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now