- Joined
- Aug 6, 2008
- Messages
- 1,727
- Points
- 0
SINGAPORE - Daryl Tan thrilled a nation when he secured Singapore's first medal yesterday in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games.
The taekwondo exponent reached the semi-finals of the 55kg division and was guaranteed a medal, with no play-off for third place.
His bout in the last four against Iran's world junior champion Kaveh Rezaei was watched by many VIPs, among them Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan.
But not his mum and dad, Amy Yeoh and Raymond Tan, who were unable to get tickets.
It was a shame, especially when Hall 401 at the International Convention Centre at Suntec City, which holds a capacity of 840, was half-empty when Daryl took on the Iranian star. According to a source close to the event, many of the empty seats were tickets that were allocated to schools.
The schoolchildren missed out on a special occasion for Singapore.
Earlier in the afternoon, Daryl had earned his place in the semi-final with a 6-5 win over Myanmar's Shein Naing Dwe Shein, after getting a bye to the last eight.
It was a completely different story against the Iranian. Daryl, 17, from Raffles Institution, fell behind quickly in Round 1, and could not find his way back. Four kicks to the head were enough for the referee to call off the bout in Round 3, with Kaveh leading 12-0. Daryl and Vietnam's Nguyen Quoc Cuong took the bronze.
The Singaporean brushed aside suggestions that he carried an injury into the bout, focusing instead on Rezaei's strength.
"This is the toughest opponent I've ever met. The Iranians train a lot more than us.
"In Singapore we're restricted by studies, we cannot invest too much time in taekwondo and neglect our studies. But I'm happy to achieve my target of reaching the semi-finals."
Lauding his achievement, Minister Balakrishnan said: "We are all so proud of him because he never gave up his fighting spirit. What we need in sports in Singapore now is self-belief - knowing you can do it and have the right to go for the best and go all out to do it."
Rezaei went on to win the gold, beating Nursultan Mamayev of Kazakhstan 4-2.
http://www.todayonline.com/YOG/EDC10...ght-of-my-life
The taekwondo exponent reached the semi-finals of the 55kg division and was guaranteed a medal, with no play-off for third place.
His bout in the last four against Iran's world junior champion Kaveh Rezaei was watched by many VIPs, among them Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan.
But not his mum and dad, Amy Yeoh and Raymond Tan, who were unable to get tickets.
It was a shame, especially when Hall 401 at the International Convention Centre at Suntec City, which holds a capacity of 840, was half-empty when Daryl took on the Iranian star. According to a source close to the event, many of the empty seats were tickets that were allocated to schools.
The schoolchildren missed out on a special occasion for Singapore.
Earlier in the afternoon, Daryl had earned his place in the semi-final with a 6-5 win over Myanmar's Shein Naing Dwe Shein, after getting a bye to the last eight.
It was a completely different story against the Iranian. Daryl, 17, from Raffles Institution, fell behind quickly in Round 1, and could not find his way back. Four kicks to the head were enough for the referee to call off the bout in Round 3, with Kaveh leading 12-0. Daryl and Vietnam's Nguyen Quoc Cuong took the bronze.
The Singaporean brushed aside suggestions that he carried an injury into the bout, focusing instead on Rezaei's strength.
"This is the toughest opponent I've ever met. The Iranians train a lot more than us.
"In Singapore we're restricted by studies, we cannot invest too much time in taekwondo and neglect our studies. But I'm happy to achieve my target of reaching the semi-finals."
Lauding his achievement, Minister Balakrishnan said: "We are all so proud of him because he never gave up his fighting spirit. What we need in sports in Singapore now is self-belief - knowing you can do it and have the right to go for the best and go all out to do it."
Rezaei went on to win the gold, beating Nursultan Mamayev of Kazakhstan 4-2.
http://www.todayonline.com/YOG/EDC10...ght-of-my-life
