First windsurfing gold for Singapore in 26 years
It’s been 26 years since Singapore's Kelly Chan won gold in windsurfing at the SEA Games.
The arduous wait for another win finally ended yesterday at East Coast Park when Audrey Yong won the women’s RSX windsurfing final.
Yong became the first Singapore woman to be a SEA Games champion in the sport.
“It’s incredible to win this for our country, on home ground,” she told The New Paper, after the contest.
Yong, who was a bronze-medallist in 2011, went into the final race just one point ahead of fierce rival Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam of Thailand.
The double points for the final meant Yong had to finish ahead of her rival to make history, and she kept her cool to cross the finish line first.
In the men’s final, Leonard Ong claimed the silver for Singapore. He beat Indonesian windsurfing legend Oka Sulaksana by a hair’s length as they approached the finish line neck to neck.
Natthaphong Phonoppharat had already been assured of a gold medal and crossed the line safely in fifth position to claim his title.
Read the full report in our print edition on June 11.
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