Jonathan Wong
Each time para-archer DesmondTong fires an arrow during his week-day training, he dares not miss thetarget.
Not only because the competi-tor inside him hates to lose, but al-so because the carbon-fibre arrowscan be easily damaged in the smallfunction room at Potong Pasir Com-munity Centre where he trains.
At $50 for a replacement, a dam-aged arrow is also a costly one. Al-ready, Tong’s own bow has costhim over $3,000.
For him and the rest of his na-tional development squad team-mates who will represent Singaporeat December’s Asean Para Games,the heavy expense is just one oftheir challenges as they attempt towin a first archery medal for thecountry.
But help is at least on the wayfor the 37-year-old who lost hisright leg in a motorcycle accidentin 1999 and had 300 stitches acrosshis body.
He is tipped to be one of 141para athletes supported later thisyear by the Final Push Programme,which provides additional finan-cial grants for training, coachingand equipment expenses ahead ofthe Dec 3-9 Games.
The scheme is already in placefor 248 able-bodied athletes whohave received around $4 million toaid their preparations for the SEAGames in June.
Said Tong, who was introducedto archery two years ago by the Sin-gapore Disability Sports Council:“Any help would be such a boostfor us. Some of our team-mates arein wheelchairs and taking taxis tocome for training can be expensivefor them.”
Another obstacle the six-mansquad face is the lack of a dedicatedpractice venue.
Currently, they train three week-days at the Potong Pasir CC but canshoot at a distance of only 13.5minside the function room.
International tournaments areconducted at 70m ranges, a condi-tion they can replicate only onweekends at the Cedar PrimarySchool field.
In a sport that requires repeatedprecision over 72 shots under theunforgiving sun, the lack of suita-ble facilities is a big disadvantage,noted coach Patrick Leong.
“And disruption to their train-ing schedule doesn’t help either,”he added.
Tong, who competed at the2013 Para Games in Myanmar inthe 100m sprint and discus, hadcorrective surgery – his 12th opera-tion – in December on his rightstump, which had become worn be-cause of his physical activities.
The prosthetist at Tan Tock SengHospital has returned to trainingonly recently.
He will miss a competition in Ke-dah next month but is pushinghimself to be ready for a 10-daytraining camp in Incheon, SouthKorea, in July.
“It’s not easy for people like usto pursue sports but we do our bestand encourage one another andfirmly believe in the triumph of thehuman spirit,” said Tong.
He has set up a Facebook group,ASAP (Amputee Sports Activity Pas-sion) Singapore, which provides aplatform for people to learn moreabout options for the disabled.
The eighth edition of the bienni-al Asean Para Games will featureabout 3,300 athletes and officialsfrom 10 countries competing in 15sports.
The Republic is expected to sendits biggest-ever contingent of morethan 100 para athletes.
Sports School win4x800m boys’ titles
The Singapore Sports Schoolwon the B and C divisionboys’ 4x800m yesterday in arain-interrupted opening dayof the two-day Singapore PressHoldings Schools RelayChampionships. NanyangGirls’ High School (C div) andCHIJ Toa Payoh (B div) splitthe girls events at Toa PayohStadium. The A division4x800m and 4x200m A, B andC div (boys and girls) eventswere postponed until 1pmtoday, which will see a packedschedule with another 12finals.
Real boss deniesAncelotti rumours
Madrid – Real Madridmanager Carlo Ancelotti hassaid the intense scrutiny thathe has come under in recentweeks is part of the job ofcoaching one of the biggestfootball sides in the world.
The Spanish club’spresident Florentino Perezcalled an impromptu pressconference on Thursday todeny rumours that Ancelotticould be sacked if theEuropean champions lose theupcoming El Clasico againstBarcelona.AFP
Archer says extrafunding will boostmorale in quest forgold in Para Games
ST PHOTO: AZIZ HUSSIN
The lack of a dedicated facility forces Desmond Tong to train at Potong PasirCC whose attributes do not match the requirements of international events.
Singapore’s Marcus Phua (inred top) lost 11-3, 11-6, 11-9to Malaysian MohammadSyafiq in yesterday’s final ofthe inaugural MarigoldSoutheast Asia Cup.
The Republic’s nationalsquash team fell 3-2 to theirbitter rivals in the mixedteam competition held at theSingapore Island CountryClub (Bukit).
Events
Bethia Wee, 19Student
Height: 1.58mWeight: 44kg
Exercise regimen: I workout at the gym six times aweek, for two hours eachtime. Some exercises I doinclude pull-ups,deadlifts, bench pressesand military presses. Iwork on different musclegroups each time. Myother form of exercise isLatin dance, which I doweekly.
Diet: I often eat out so Itry to pick healthieroptions. I usually ask forless oil or salt in my food.I do not watch my dietclosely unless I’mpreparing for acompetition. I tookpart in a physiquecompetition recentlyand won. When I ampreparing for acompetition, I cook andwatch my food intakeclosely.
ATHLETICSSPH Schools Relay C’ships Day 2 (ToaPayoh Stadium, 3.30pm).
SWIMMINGNational Age Group C’ships Day 3(OCBC Aquatic Centre, 9am).
Text and pictures byCaroline Chia
Jason Seow, 27Procurement executive
Height: 1.68mWeight: 66kg
Exercise regimen: I go tothe gym four times aweek and alternatebetween upper and lowerbody workouts. I docompound lifts whichwork out more than onemuscle. Some examplesare overhead presses,deadlifts and squats. Oncea week, I do a cardioworkout that consists of30-second sprintsfollowed by a 30-secondwalk over 20 minutes.
Diet: I cook all my mealsdaily since it allows me tocontrol my calorie intake.I hardly eat fast food andI minimise the amount offried food, sugary drinksand sweet food that Iconsume. I get hungryeasily so I eat 5-6 smallermeals throughout theday.
[ HOT BODS ]
BADMINTON
Swiss Open In Basel (selected) – Q-fi-nals, men: K. Srikanth (Ind) bt TakumaUeda (Jpn) 21-11 21-12, Xue Song(Chn) bt Christie Jonatan (Ina) 21-1721-10, Ajay Jayaram (Ind) bt KazumasaSakai (Jpn) 17-21 23-21 21-15, ViktorAxelsen (Den) bt Hsu Jen-hao (Tpe)21-13 21-12. Women: Busanan Ong-bumrungpan (Tha) bt Wang Yihan(Chn) 21-13 21-15, Akane Yamaguchi(Jpn) bt Michelle Li (Can) 21-8 15-2121-12, Sun Yu (Chn) bt Porntip Burana-prasertsuk (Tha) 21-11 21-5, SayakaTakahashi (Jpn) bt Nichaon Jindapon(Tha) 21-19 21-10.
BASKETBALL
NBA Charlotte 101 Chicago 91, Phila-delphia 114 Sacramento 107, Boston95 Orlando 88, Toronto 102 Miami 92,Oklahoma City 113 Minnesota 99, Dal-las 129 LA Clippers 99, Denver 114Golden State 103, Phoenix 87 Atlanta96, Portland 118 Detroit 99.
FOOTBALL
Dutch Eredivisie Vitesse 3 Alkmaar 1.
French Ligue 1 Monaco 3 Bastia 0,Nice 1 En Avant Guingamp 2.German Bundesliga Leverkusen 4Stuttgart 0.Spanish Primera Liga Valencia 2 De-portivo 0.
GOLFPGM Terengganu C’ship In ResortsWorld Kijal, final rd: 273 Panuwat Muen-lek (Tha) 70 68 67 68. 276 Itthipat Bura-natanyarat (Tha) 68 72 68 68, At-thaphon Sriboonkaew (Tha) 68 71 6671. 277 Lam Chih Bing (Sin) 72 69 6967, Janne Kaske (Fin) 72 67 69 69. Oth-er Singaporeans: 289 Choo Tze Huang71 75 71 72.Tshwane Open In Pretoria, 2nd rd (Rsaunless noted): 129 Adrian Otaegui(Esp) 67 62. 131 Merrick Bremner 6566. 132 Trevor Fisher Jr, 66 66, KeithHorne 65 67, David Horsey (Eng) 6369, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 66 66. 133Dean Burmester 65 68, Wallie Coetsee64 69, George Coetzee 67 66.Valspar C’ship In Palm Harbor, USA,2nd rd (USA unless noted): 136 Bren-don de Jonge (Zim) 67 69. 137 JordanSpieth 70 67, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 67
70, Ryan Moore 69 68, Derek Ernst 6770, Kevin Streelman 68 69. 138 RickyBarnes 66 72, Ian Poulter (Eng) 68 70,Sean O’Hair 66 72, Lucas Glover 69 69.
TENNIS
ATP/WTA Indian Wells Men’s 1st rd:Steve Johnson (USA) bt MarcelGranollers (Esp) 6-2 6-3, AlexandrDolgopolov (Ukr) bt Frank Dancevic(Can) 6-2 7-5, Michael Berrer (Ger) btVíctor Estrella (Dom) 6-3 5-7 6-4, Don-ald Young (USA) bt Pablo Carreno-Bus-ta (Esp) 6-3 6-4, Martin Klizan (Svk) btPablo Andujar (Esp) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3,Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukr) bt Sam Querrey(USA) 2-6 6-4 6-2, Igor Sijsling (Ned) btFilip Krajinovic (Srb) 6-4 3-6 6-2, Si-mone Bolelli (Ita) bt Thomaz Bellucci(Bra) 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-4, Robin Haase(Ned) bt Alex Bolt (Aus) 6-4 6-2, JackSock (USA) bt Lu Yen-hsun (Tpe) 6-7(4-7) 6-2 7-5, Malek Jaziri (Tun) bt Tat-suma Ito (Jpn) 7-5 6-1, Andrey Golubev(Kaz) bt Dustin Brown (Ger) 6-7 (4-7)6-3 7-6 (7-3), Nick Kyrgios (Aus) btDenis Kudla (USA) 6-4 7-5, Victor Hanes-cu (Rom) bt Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) 6-36-4, Diego Schwartzman (Arg) bt Jerzy
Janowicz (Pol) 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-3), DenisIstomin (Uzb) bt Austin Krajicek (USA)7-6 (7-5) 6-4.
Women’s 2nd rd: Serena Williams(USA) bt Monica Niculescu (Rom) 7-57-5, Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) bt ElenaVesnina (Rus) 6-4 6-0, Heather Watson(Gbr) bt Camila Giorgi (Ita) 7-5 7-5, Ag-nieszka Radwanska (Pol) bt Alison Riske(USA) 6-3 6-1, Elina Svitolina (Ukr) bt Ali-son van Uytvanck (Bel) 4-6 7-6 (7-4)6-1, Zarina Diyas (Kaz) bt Donna Vekic(Cro) 6-3 6-3, Svetlana Kuznetsova(Rus) bt Katerina Siniakova (Cze) 7-6(7-2) 6-2, Sloane Stephens (USA) bt An-gelique Kerber (Ger) 7-6 (8-6) 6-2, Ti-mea Bacsinszky (Sui) bt Marina Erakovic(Nzl) 4-6 6-3 6-2, Simona Halep (Rom)bt Daria Gavrilova (Rus) 2-6 6-1 6-2,Karolina Pliskova (Cze) bt Lara Arruabar-rena (Esp) 6-3 7-5, Anastasia Pavly-uchenkova (Rus) bt Barbora ZahlavovaStrycova (Cze) 6-3 6-3, Carla Suarez(Esp) bt Monica Puig (Pur) 6-1 6-1, Var-vara Lepchenko (USA) bt Sachia Vickery(USA) 6-4 6-1, Garbine Muguruza (Esp)bt Irina Falconi (USA) 4-6 6-2 6-3, LucieSafarova (Cze) bt Mona Barthel (Ger)6-4 7-6(7-4).
Scoresheet
Final Push fires up Tong
Squash team lose to Malaysia
BADMINTON
Swiss Open Finals (StarHub Ch201,
7pm).
BASKETBALL
NBA Washington v Sacramento (7am),
Orlando v Cleveland (tomorrow, 6am)
– StarHub Ch216, Memphis v Milwau-
kee (Ch202, 8am).
CRICKET
ICC World Cup Pool B: West Indies v
UAE (Singtel TV Ch124 & StarHub
Ch235, 6am), Pakistan v Ireland (Sing-
tel TV Ch123 & StarHub Ch236,
11.15am).
FOOTBALL
Dutch Eredivisie Heerenveen v Ajax
(Singtel TV Ch114 & StarHub Ch208,
9.25pm), PSV v Groningen (9.25pm),
Dordrecht v Feyenoord (11.40pm) –
Ch115 & Ch209.
English Premier League Chelsea v
Southampton (9.30pm), Man United v
Tottenham (midnight) – Singtel TV
Ch102 & StarHub Ch227, Everton v
Newcastle (Ch103 & Ch228,
10.55pm).
French Ligue 1 Lille v Rennes
(8.50pm), Marseille v Lyon (tomorrow,
3.50am) – Singtel TV Ch112, Bordeaux
v PSG (Singtel TV Ch111, 11.50pm).
German Bundesliga Wolfsburg v
Freiburg (10.25pm), Borussia
Moenchengladbach v Hannover (to-
morrow, 12.25am) – StarHub Ch202.
Italian Serie A Genoa v Chievo
(9.55pm), Inter v Cesena (tomorrow,
3.40am) – Singtel TV Ch111, Verona v
Napoli (Ch112, 12.55am).
Spanish Primera Liga Almeria v Villarre-
al (6.55pm), Malaga v Cordoba
(11.55pm), Sevilla v Elche (tomorrow,
1.55pm), Real Madrid v Levante (tomor-
row, 3.55am) – Singtel TV Ch114 &
StarHub Ch208.
GOLF
New Zealand Open Day 4 (Singtel TV
Ch115 & StarHub Ch209, 9am).
Tshwane Open Day 4 (StarHub
Ch204, 6pm).
Valspar C’ship Day 4 (Ch204, tomor-
row, 3am).
MOTOR RACING
F1 Australian GP Race day (noon).
Main race (12.30pm) – Singtel TVCh114 & StarHub Ch208.
RUGBY UNION
Six Nations Italy v France (Singtel TVCh113, 10.55pm).
SWIMMING
National Age Group C’ships Day 3(OCBC Aquatic Centre, 9am).
TABLE TENNIS
Nigerian Open Women’s & Men’ssingles/Men’s doubles finals (StarHubCh112 & Ch205, noon).
TENNIS
ATP Indian Wells (StarHub Ch201, to-morrow, 2am).
ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM
TV times
IN BRIEF8282-3343
TEXT
8282-3343
TEXT TEXT SMSSMSSMSSMSSMSSMSSMSSMSSMSSMSSMSSMSSMSSMSSMS
8282-33438282-3343
8282-33438282-3343
1800-8282828
CALL
[email protected]@sph.com.sg
1800-8282828
CALL
1800-8282828
CALL
CLICK
1800-82828281800-8282828
CLICK
1800-82828281800-8282828
CLICK
www.straitstimes.com“My Tip-O�” on
Have a story?Let us know
Won’t bow down“It’s not easy for peoplelike us to pursue sportsbut we do our best andencourage one anotherand firmly believe inthe triumph of thehuman spirit.”DESMOND TONG
44 sportthesundaytimes March 15, 2015
