Written by: Aravind Mano (Voxsports News)

Singapore’s taekwondo athletes missed out on the final rounds of their respective events after losing their matches on Saturday afternoon.

Jason Tan, Nur Fadzlyn Zahruddin and Vincent Lim came up short in the men’s under 58kg, women’s under 49kg and men’s under 63kg semi-finals respectively.

Tan had started his bout with the Philippines’ Francis Aaron Agojo well, but suffered an injury to his left leg in the second round which greatly reduced the pace and intensity that Tan had shown in the opening stages of the bout.

Ultimately, Agojo emerged victorious on points with a final score of 20-13 after three rounds.

After his match, Tan refused to blame the injury for his loss, admitting that while he expected better, he was still proud of his efforts.

“Taekwondo is a contact sport so there are always some knocks and bruises,” Tan said.

“At that moment it was just affecting me, when sometimes I had to change legs. But I can’t use this injury as an excuse for my loss. I think I did my best so that’s most important.”

In her semi-final clash with Timor Leste’s Luisa Dos Santos Rosa, Fadzlyn did not fare any better than her national teammate as she lost 13-0 after three rounds.

A physically imposing Rosa overpowered Fadzlyn throughout the fight, and did not concede a single point to the Singaporean in the three rounds.

Rosa’s larger 1.7m physique hulked over Fadzlyn’s smaller frame but the 17-year-old pointed out that she was used to fighting taller opponents and that it was not a factor that intimidated her.

“I don’t think height matters to me because in all my other competitions, my opponents have been taller than me,” Fadzlyn explained.

“In my mind, I just thought that I had to try my best to kick her.

“I could have done better, but during the fight all I thought about was to try my best, to do whatever I could and to just go for it.”

In the under 63kg clash, Lim lost his bout with Myanmar’s Zaw after the referee stopped the contest with five seconds left of the third round. Zaw was convincingly leading 19-9 at the time.

Lim started well, and managed to win the first round 2-1. However, Zaw’s increased his aggression for the next two rounds to regain the lead and until the referee stopped the fight, was completely dominant with solid kicks to the midriff and head of Lim to take the win.

The result meant that all three athletes sealed SEA Games bronze medals but Tan was already looking ahead to tournaments in the future, saying that more work is needed to ensure future glory for himself and the team.

“I think I can do so much better, so I have to work a lot more on it and try again at the next competition,” he asserted.

By Low Jay Sen (The Straits Times)

SINGAPORE – Taekwondo exponent Chelsea Sim has won the gold medal in the women’s individual poomsae final – Singapore’s first title at the SEA Games since 1999 when S. Sinnathurai won in the men’s kyorugi flyweight category.

Compatriot Kang Rui Jie also won the gold medal in the corresponding men’s poomsae final.

The 19-year-old Sim beat off the likes of 2014 poomsae world champion Rinna Babanto of the Philippines at the Singapore Expo Hall 2 on Friday morning, to better her silver medal effort at the 2013 Games.

Sim totalled an average of 8.00 over her two routines to see off her closest competitors comfortably, with Babanto settling for the silver on 7.480 points and Indonesia’s Habiba Mutiara Mutiara and Kidavone Philavong of Laos were the joint bronze medallists after scoring 7.365 points and 7.350 points respectively.

Kang, 20, won the gold with his final score of 8.135 over two routines making him the clear winner over silver medallist Maulana Haidir from Indonesia, who was awarded 7.635 points. Third place went to Malaysian Yong Jin Kun on 7.305 points, and Sovannat Phal of Cambodia who finished with 7.245 points.

Sim and Kang then teamed up to earn Singapore their third medal on a productive day for taekwondo with a bronze medal effort in the mixed poomsae finals. Vietnamese pair Nguyen Minh Van and Nguyen Minh Tu finished first with 7.885 points, while Malaysia just pipped Singapore to the silver, scoring 7.785 points to the Republic’s showing of 7.720 points. Thailand took joint bronze with Singapore on 7.615 points.

Singapore also won 2 bronze medals through Ng Ming Wei (Men Under 54kg) and Chew Xin Wei (Women Under 46kg).

Taekwondo athletes from the Singapore Taekwondo Federation (STF) have been training very hard to prepare for the 28^th SEA Games which will be held from 12 to 14 June 2015 at Singapore Expo. Although it may not be as much as the other athletes in the region, the STF notes that they are giving off their best within their individual constraints to be worthy flag bearers.

Most of all, the STF is proud of the sacrifices that they have made to represent Singapore in the Games. It is also grateful for the support and encouragement that they are receiving from their parents, clubs, friends and fans who will all be at the venue to lend their strong vocal support when they take on the best in region. That is one contributing reason why tickets for the taekwondo competition are now sold out.

Here are our athletes, their instructors and the clubs they come from.

Poomsae

Kyorugi

The STF would like to put on record its deepest appreciation to the instructors and their clubs for supporting the aspirations of their athletes and for providing them a sound foundation for their further development.

On behalf of the taekwondo community in Singapore, the STF wishes the athletes success in their SEA Games exploits!