Silver's fine for Toh
Holding a 2-0 lead over her Thai opponent Tanimpat Visaratanunta after the second round, it looked as if Toh Sze Ning was on the way to winning Singapore's first boccia gold at the Asean Para Games yesterday.
But Tanimpat staged a remarkable fightback and eventually overcame Toh 3-2 to win the mixed individual BC3 event at the OCBC Arena.
Despite the near-miss, Toh did not have regrets.
"I played well, but my opponent did a little better than me," she said after the match.
"I enjoyed my last match."
Maybe, Toh was soothed by the silver because she had actually targeted a bronze in the event.
And this was her first medal at the Games, after achieving a best of fourth at the previous edition in Myanmar.
Singapore boccia team manager, Kenneth Soh, was proud of Toh's improvement.
Noting how she had managed to beat world No. 10 compatriot, Nurulasyiqah Mohammad Taha, the defending champion, in the preliminary round, and push Paralympian Tanimpat hard, he is looking forward to the mixed pair event BC3.
"Our genuine chance is really the pairs event because when you play pairs, you need two good players. And really, Tze Ning is catching up, which is a good thing for us," he said.
Coach Tess Tan is confident Toh and Nurulasyiqah can match Thai favourites Tanimpat and Ekkarat Chaemchoi.
In three meetings over the last six months, the Singapore pair lost twice to the Thai tandem but won the last encounter 4-3.
"Looking at their training sessions, we know that they (Toh and Nurulasyiqah) can perform well. If they can reproduce it in competition, they will do well," said Tan.
"It is going to be a close game if they do meet."
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