We hope that your Christmas would be enjoyable and may the essence of Christmas remains always with you and your family.
Take care.
Take care.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
16th Asian Games in Guangzhou City, China
The 2010 Asian Games was a multi-sports event in Guangzhou, China. The Game began on 12 November and finished on 27 November 2010. Calvin Kang from Reactiv gave us his insights on the Games. Have a read.
[Photo from http://www.teamsingapore.com.sg/content/teamsingapore/en/News/latest_news/2010/mixed_day.html]
[Photo from http://www.teamsingapore.com.sg/content/teamsingapore/en/News/latest_news/2010/mixed_day.html]
16th Asian Games 2010 Guangzhou, China
The 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou had the hopes of the incredible success of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. As China were well prepared and ready to take on the Asian Games, it was a success. I would say that my stay in Guangzhou was great. Firstly, the very smooth traffic conditions, to the very courteous volunteers ready to greet you at every corner at any time of the day. And the high level of competition at the games. Track and field was scheduled in the later part of the games thus, we had been exposed by the media on how the Asian Games was going and I can remember that I was waiting patiently but eagerly to participate in the games. I was going there for one goal which is the 4x100m relay. There were daily times on the sports on the newspaper given to us every morning in our apartments, there was this interview and the girl said that the experience at the Asian Games were better than that at the YOG simply because the service was so good. The Chinese people had to pride of their country and thus giving their best in their area of volunteering. However, we cannot compare to China mainly because of the people to area ratio. There were hardly any hiccups, bus timings were very consistent, the reporting times and race times were smack on the dot.
On the race day of the 4x100m, I was charged up to run the race of my life as it was the last competition for me for the year. Equipping my mind mentally and staying relax helped me to feel good. The weather was cool and definitely dry, and it did not struck me that I may have been dehydrated. 30mins before reporting I had a major calf cramp. Thankfully, a masseur (sathi) was there to attend to me, shaking and stretching my calf. Downing 2 full bottles immediately helped me to recover. We had our spirits lifted up and were ready to give our best. Our heat had strong competitors like Japan, China, Saudi Arabia. I was at the 4th runner position counting my steps, feeling the cheer of the crowd for china was daunting and having Japan (Olympics bronze medalist) team on the outside of me gave a slight anxiety. But I knew that the Singapore team had trained well and we had the camaraderie and we were ready for this meet.
On your marks! Set, Go! Gun went off. Gary did a great start not letting the Japanese Eruguchi to pull away. Stepping on the mark, Elfi took off, accelerating down the straight. Shouting for ‘ Up!’ Elfi’s Hand went up, Gary aiming to place the baton in his hand. First time, it missed and slip, trying the second time made Gary over stretch and lose his running momentum only leaving elfi pulling further away and out of the exchange zone. There the relay time for the Singapore Team had ended. Leaving Amir and me to watch and observe the other runners zooming past us. We did not know what to do at that moment. In the minds of Gary and Elfi it was a shocker and in my mind, I guess the race was over and it was the end of my season. However, the relay is a team event and we took the result as a team.
Thankfully, they managed to squeeze me in the 200m. I was very fired up to run in the 200m. Usually, I did not have a clear race plan but this time round. I really had a plan from the blocks, coming out fast the first 30m mainly opening up my strides. Coming into the straight at the 80m to engage the frequency and powering and maintaining down to the finish line. In most races, the last 20m would kill me. But having a good race plan and being confident helped me to stick with the pack and finishing with a personal best of 21.68s . I was happy with my timing as I was aiming a personal best. And there I finished my 2010 season on a high. In the 100m having a season’s best of 10.61s and in the 4x100m in 40.14.
Thank you Calvin for sharing your wonderful experience in the Asian Games.
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I personally feel that there were too much pressure on the boys, hoping for a new national record. Having said that, there were also lots of indirect stress on the runners. For example, the new relay coordinator Mr Melvin Tan, took over Coach Hamkah for the responsibility of the 4 x 100m. For the past 4 years when Coach Hamkah and Mr Tang Ngai Kin took control over the relay team, there were resistance from personal coaches, uncertainties and even fights within the team and the coaches. However, the ex SAA had a team of experts to conquer these problems. These people include: Ralph (TD), Veera (Chief Coordinator), Hosni (Head Coach Sprints), Sharon (Video Analysis) and myself (Assistant Coach Sprint). We had a huge team to work closely together. However for this incident in Guangzhou, I would say Mr Melvin Tan is fighting this battle alone. I will not regard this as a failure, and Mr Melvin Tan should face it and come back stronger.
I also feel that nobody should be penalized for the baton passing. Accidents do occur and it happens to be during a major game. In fact, these boys should make full use of the chance to observe and learn from the Asia's best athletes and share it with our local athletes and coaches, and eventually improve our sporting culture in Singapore.
I can't wait for the new season to start and to look out for more young talents and potential athletes from Singapore school's system.
This is Alfred Sim signing off.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Malaysia Open 2010
Malaysia Open was held at Majlis Sukan Negara Stadium, Bukit Jalil. It was not held at the main stadium as there was a soccer match taking place during that weekend. Nonetheless, we saw athletes from Saudi, Qatar, Thailand, Taipei, Philippines and even Sri Lanka coming to compete at this meet. Singapore only sent a small contingent as most of the other National Athletes were tied down to the IVP Meet that week. Here are the results of the athletes from Singapore.
Amanda in lane 7 of the 100m Heats.
Amanda Choo 100m W (Semi 12.10s, Final 12.03s 7th),
Nadiah 100m W (13.00s),
Michelle Sng High Jump W (1.60m),
Rachel Yang Pole Vault W (No height),
Calvin Kang 100m M (Heats 10.85s, Semi 10.71s) & 200m M (22.90s),
Shalindran 200m M (Semi 22.23s ) & 400m M (Semi 51.33s),
Stefan Tseng Triple Jump M (15.09mm 3rd),
Sean Lim Pole Vault M (4.20m 3rd)
Izwan 100m M (Heats 11.05s) & 200m M (Semi 22.83, Finals 22.44)
Izwan in lane 5 in the 100m Heats
Stefan saying a few words on winning the bronze medal.
We also got Shalindran and Calvin Kang from Reactiv to share their experience with us.
Shalindran:
This Malaysia Open was very different for me. It was the first overseas meet whereby it was free and easy. Stefan, Calvin Kang, Calvin Cheng (went there to support and for a holiday) and I drove up together to KL to compete. We had our own accommodations as well staying minutes from KLCC. As soon as we checked in, we went to look for our team manager who was staying in a different hotel to get our number tags and find out what time our races are.
I wasn't too happy about my 400m race as I was aiming to break my Personal Best of 49.35secs. Being in the 3rd Semis, I watched how my competitors ran their races for the 400m. Especially the races with the Saudi guys in it. Those guys ran effortlessly hitting timings like 46 and 47seconds and it was simply a jaw dropping experience for me. As for my race, I was too carried away with the others in my heat. Everyone started so fast that it made me go slightly faster than my actual race plan. By the 200m mark I was in last place and the lactic acid had already kicked in. I managed to push through the last part and came in 4th out of the 5 athletes in that heat with a timing of 51.33secs. I was very dejected straight after the race. However, the day must still go on and I came back stronger for the 200m the next day in which I attained a new personal best timing.
Overall, I feel delighted that I got to compete overseas at least once this year and that I managed to achieve a personal best. However, I feel that more backing and aid needs to be given to athletes. It was the first time I had to fork out money to go overseas to compete and it's such a shame that a national athlete has to do so. I also feel that it was very messy on the Singapore side as many issues were settled last minute. Hopefully things between the management's wants and athlete's needs be straighten out in time to come.
Calvin Kang:
The competition was good and I didn't expect teams like the middle east to compete as they were also enrouting to the Asian games. This is the first time that Team Singapore's athletes all travelled up by themselves to compete and it was like a road trip and the 'pit stop' was to compete. We gave our best and carried on with what's in KL like visiting the KLCC aquaria. The main stadium that we were suppose to compete in was closed due to a soccer match so we had to resettle to the practice track. However, the track was good and I manage to run a decent time in the 100m.
Overall I would say that it was a fun trip and also a stepping stone for my progress in the century sprint to garner and boost that confidence I need in the 4x100m in the Asian Games Guangzhou on the 23rd nov.
To view more pictures,
Shalindran's Facebook Album
Amanda in lane 7 of the 100m Heats.Amanda Choo 100m W (Semi 12.10s, Final 12.03s 7th),
Nadiah 100m W (13.00s),
Michelle Sng High Jump W (1.60m),
Rachel Yang Pole Vault W (No height),
Calvin Kang 100m M (Heats 10.85s, Semi 10.71s) & 200m M (22.90s),
Shalindran 200m M (Semi 22.23s ) & 400m M (Semi 51.33s),
Stefan Tseng Triple Jump M (15.09mm 3rd),
Sean Lim Pole Vault M (4.20m 3rd)
Izwan 100m M (Heats 11.05s) & 200m M (Semi 22.83, Finals 22.44)
Izwan in lane 5 in the 100m Heats
Stefan saying a few words on winning the bronze medal. We also got Shalindran and Calvin Kang from Reactiv to share their experience with us.
Shalindran:
This Malaysia Open was very different for me. It was the first overseas meet whereby it was free and easy. Stefan, Calvin Kang, Calvin Cheng (went there to support and for a holiday) and I drove up together to KL to compete. We had our own accommodations as well staying minutes from KLCC. As soon as we checked in, we went to look for our team manager who was staying in a different hotel to get our number tags and find out what time our races are.
I wasn't too happy about my 400m race as I was aiming to break my Personal Best of 49.35secs. Being in the 3rd Semis, I watched how my competitors ran their races for the 400m. Especially the races with the Saudi guys in it. Those guys ran effortlessly hitting timings like 46 and 47seconds and it was simply a jaw dropping experience for me. As for my race, I was too carried away with the others in my heat. Everyone started so fast that it made me go slightly faster than my actual race plan. By the 200m mark I was in last place and the lactic acid had already kicked in. I managed to push through the last part and came in 4th out of the 5 athletes in that heat with a timing of 51.33secs. I was very dejected straight after the race. However, the day must still go on and I came back stronger for the 200m the next day in which I attained a new personal best timing.
Overall, I feel delighted that I got to compete overseas at least once this year and that I managed to achieve a personal best. However, I feel that more backing and aid needs to be given to athletes. It was the first time I had to fork out money to go overseas to compete and it's such a shame that a national athlete has to do so. I also feel that it was very messy on the Singapore side as many issues were settled last minute. Hopefully things between the management's wants and athlete's needs be straighten out in time to come.
Calvin Kang:
The competition was good and I didn't expect teams like the middle east to compete as they were also enrouting to the Asian games. This is the first time that Team Singapore's athletes all travelled up by themselves to compete and it was like a road trip and the 'pit stop' was to compete. We gave our best and carried on with what's in KL like visiting the KLCC aquaria. The main stadium that we were suppose to compete in was closed due to a soccer match so we had to resettle to the practice track. However, the track was good and I manage to run a decent time in the 100m.
Overall I would say that it was a fun trip and also a stepping stone for my progress in the century sprint to garner and boost that confidence I need in the 4x100m in the Asian Games Guangzhou on the 23rd nov.
To view more pictures,
Shalindran's Facebook Album
Institute Varsity Polytechnic (IVP) Games Day 2
The IVP Track and field Meet 10/11 came to an yesterday, 30 Oct 2010 and once again athletes from Reactiv representing National University of Singapore, Republic Polytechnic and various other institutions took the track to test their mettle and race for new seasons’ and personal best timings.
400mH
The meet saw its first real action in the Men’s 400mH events where there was a close fight between Muhamad Zaki Sapari from Republic Polytechnic (training under SDSC) and Sharman Dustageer from NUS. There was little to separate the two in the early stages of the race, but it was obvious that Zaki had a good race tempo going and was having an easier time clearing the hurdles because of the height advantage he had over Sharman. It was a close fight but Zaki triumphed in the end, coming in first with a time of 56.09s to Sharman’s 56.69s. Fudin (coach Remy Gan) came in 15th among the 17 hurdlers with a time of 68.10s. This is also his first attempt in the 400mH.
200m
In the 200m, Melanie Francisca and Abdul Hakeem both did personal best and seasons’ best timings respectively. Both athletes managed to qualify for the finals easily, coming in second in their respective heats to qualify automatically. Natalie from RP also came in 4th in the finals with a time of 27.46s. She was racing with powerhouse national athletes and managed to beat the rest of the athletes from other institutions.
The Men’s 200m final boasted a strong field of competitors but Hakeem managed to hold his own, coming in 2nd with a time of 22.08s; a strong showing from him given the fact that he had been away from competition for about half a year. Gary Yeo came in 1st with a time of 21.64s. Marcus and Kyser from RP managed 26.40s and 24.54s respectively in their heats but couldn’t qualify for the finals. It was a struggle for Kyser to start racing so soon after a few months of break. He only had a month of training prior to the IVP.
The Women’s 200m final also saw a quality field of athletes competing. However, with a more aggressive start compared to what she did in the heats, Melanie was able to finish the race in 3rd place with a personal best timing of 25.74s. Dipna Lim Prasad and Valerie Pereira produced stellar performances and fought each other to the finish to take gold and silver respectively with timings of 24.68s and 24.69s respectively.
Relays
The final events for the day were the Men’s and Women’s relays. It was an easy victory for the men from NUS in both relays, with their 4x100m team managing to break the Championship Record. The team was anchored by Abdul Hakeem. The Republic Polytechnic team ran well and came in 8th in the final. Although the time was not faster than the heats, they did their best and some athletes having run than 1 event on the day were evidently worn out. RP came in 3rd for the 4 x 400m, and the runners were Khalis, Zaki, Firdaus and Fudin.
In the Women’s relays, Nikita returned to the track to anchor NTU’s 4x400m team. She managed to sustain the lead they already had and brought the team to victory. Melanie ran in the 4x100 and 4x400m relays where NUS clinched silver medals. RP did not send any women relay team.
This marks the end of the season for most of the athletes. The winners of the events will be invited to race in the Asean University Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand at the end of the year. We hope that they will do well and make us proud.
Credits:
Written by Melanie and Alfred
Edited by Hakeem
Photos courtesy of Benedict Sirius Ong , Lance Tan Fana Farhanah and Singapore Athletic Association
Monday, October 25, 2010
Institute Varsity Polytechnic (IVP) Games Day 1
The Inter-Varsity Polytechnic (IVP) Track and Field Championships are currently being held over two weekends, with the various local universities, polytechnics and ITEs coming together to compete in this highly competitive meet. IVP 2010 is being organized this year by Nanyang Technological University and certain events were held yesterday at the Bukit Gombak Stadium.
100m heats - 11.97secs (PB)
4. Natalie Lee from Republic Polytechnic, who trains with Sprint Dynamic Sports Consultancy (SDSC), came in 3rd in the 100m finals.
(Coach Alfred: She managed to run a Personal Best in the heats. She is strong in her push and gave Balpreet from NTU a run for her money. What she is lacking though is stride frequency)
100m heats - 13.26secs (PB)
100m finals - 13.35secs
5. Shireen, Alicia, Kyser, Khalis and Zaki from Republic Polytechnic ran in the other individual events for RP.
(Coach Alfred: It was after a long break where Khalis and Kyser started theiur training proper just a few weeks before the competition. Someone who amazed me was Alicia, who only did 2 hurdle training sessions and 4 training days in total, and yet managed to run her way into the 100m Hurdles finals. Unfortunately, she didn't manage to finish the race after tripping over the first hurdle. On another note, Shireen, who was part of our Asian Youth Games contingent last year, unsurprisingly came in first for her pet event as she out-jumped the 2nd place jumper by more than a meter! )
Shireen 1st for Triple Jump (trains with Dr Valeri Obidko)
Khalis came in 4th in the 400m finals with a time of 54.00secs (trains with SDSC)
Zaki came in 2nd in the 400m with a time of 51.04secs (trains with SDSC)
Alicia Tiang heats - 20.22secs. Tripped on the first hurdle and did not finish the finals.
Kyser ran a time of 12.19secs in the heats.
4x100m Boys (Kyser, Firdaus, Marcus and Zaki) qualified for the Finals
Day 2 of the IVP Meet will be held on the 30th of Oct. We hope to see more PBs and SBs on that day. Hakeem and Melanie, both from NUS, will be running in the 200m and 4x100m finals.
Credits:
Written by Shalindran and Alfred
Edited by Hakeem
Photos courtesy of Singapore Athletic Association Facebook
We saw a few Personal Best (PB) and Season Best (SB) performances from Coach Alfred Sim-trained Republic Polytechnic as well as competitors from the Reactiv training group.
Personal Best and Season Best
1. Nikita ran 2 PBs yesterday with one coming in the 800m finals where she came in 2nd behind Lossini of Singapore Polytechnic, and another in the 400m where she established new PBs in the heats and finals, on her way to winning the 400m event.
(Coach Alfred: Nikita started proper sprint training with me during the 4th quarter of last year and improved on her speed after a year of training. She has shown much improvement in her running form. After a few competitions, she started to get the 400m race tempo, and eventually did her PBs at IVP. With the strong endurance base developed by her previous coaches, Mr Low Cham Pew and Mr Lim Kien Mau, it was not difficult for me to bring her to the next level.)
800m - 2mins 32.72secs (PB)
400 heats - 60.68secs (PB)
400 finals - 60.26secs (PB)
2. Melanie ran her first 400m race this season.
(Coach Alfred: Mel was not familiar with the race tempo and messed up her race during the heats, going too fast in her first 200m and eventually dying out due to the early onset of lactic acid accumulation in her race. It was after the 2 hour break where she realized her mistakes and did a SB to justify her painful lesson learnt.)
400 heats - 64.71secs
400 finals - 62.87secs (SB)
3. Firdaus As a captain of RP track team, he managed to run a PB, at the same time clocking below 12s. He is also in the RP 4x100m relay team, where he runs the 2nd leg. RP is now in the finals of the 4x100m to be run this coming Saturday.
100m heats - 11.97secs (PB)
4. Natalie Lee from Republic Polytechnic, who trains with Sprint Dynamic Sports Consultancy (SDSC), came in 3rd in the 100m finals.
(Coach Alfred: She managed to run a Personal Best in the heats. She is strong in her push and gave Balpreet from NTU a run for her money. What she is lacking though is stride frequency)
100m heats - 13.26secs (PB)
100m finals - 13.35secs
5. Shireen, Alicia, Kyser, Khalis and Zaki from Republic Polytechnic ran in the other individual events for RP.
(Coach Alfred: It was after a long break where Khalis and Kyser started theiur training proper just a few weeks before the competition. Someone who amazed me was Alicia, who only did 2 hurdle training sessions and 4 training days in total, and yet managed to run her way into the 100m Hurdles finals. Unfortunately, she didn't manage to finish the race after tripping over the first hurdle. On another note, Shireen, who was part of our Asian Youth Games contingent last year, unsurprisingly came in first for her pet event as she out-jumped the 2nd place jumper by more than a meter! )
Shireen 1st for Triple Jump (trains with Dr Valeri Obidko)
Khalis came in 4th in the 400m finals with a time of 54.00secs (trains with SDSC)
Zaki came in 2nd in the 400m with a time of 51.04secs (trains with SDSC)
Alicia Tiang heats - 20.22secs. Tripped on the first hurdle and did not finish the finals.
Kyser ran a time of 12.19secs in the heats.
4x100m Boys (Kyser, Firdaus, Marcus and Zaki) qualified for the Finals
Day 2 of the IVP Meet will be held on the 30th of Oct. We hope to see more PBs and SBs on that day. Hakeem and Melanie, both from NUS, will be running in the 200m and 4x100m finals.
Credits:
Written by Shalindran and Alfred
Edited by Hakeem
Photos courtesy of Singapore Athletic Association Facebook