Christina Marks Her Arrival With Gold In 50m Breaststroke

PALEMBANG: Youngster Christina Loh announced her arrival as a swimming star by winning the 50m breaststroke for her first Games gold at the Jakabaring Aquatic Centre yesterday.

There were fears whether Yi Ting was up to the task as she had barely enough rest after taking silver in the 200m individual medley earlier.

But the fears were unfounded as Christina swam a flawless race to touch home first in 32.49.

Yi Ting followed closely for the silver in 32.81, ahead of Thailand’s Pawapo Phianghwan (33.39).

Christina’s winning time was just outside her national record of 32.29 set at the World Championships in Shanghai in July, but it was enough for Malaysia to complete a sweep of of three women’s breaststroke titles.

Christina was beaten to the gold by Yi Ting in the 100m breaststroke two days ago but it was her turn for glory yesterday.

She was grinning from ear to ear and sang Negaraku as she stood on top of the podium.

“I’m happy to have bagged my first gold although it’s not a personal best. It was a tough race, a tough fight and I’m happy to have come out tops after not taking home any medals before,” said Christina, who finished sixth in the 200m breaststroke – the only event she swam in Laos. Yi Ting’s hopes of a triple gold feat in Palembang were dashed when she was beaten by Thailand’s Natthanan Junkrajang in the 200m individual medley. Yi Ting clocked 2:20.11 ahead of Indonesia’s Dewi Ressa, who took the bronze in 2:21.31.

Kevin Yeap failed to complete a double as he fell short in the men’s 1,500m freestyle.

Kevin could not chase the stronger Teo Zhen Ren of Singapore in the closing moments and settled for silver in 15:53.79.

The Singaporean clocked a winning time of 15:44.32 as defending champion Ryan Arabejo of the Philippines settled for bronze in 16:01.26.

Marellyn Liew bagged her third silver medal after posting a 27.63 with Singapore sensation Tao Li striding to victory in 26.59, and her seventh gold.

The Sabah-born Marellyn took silver in the 100m butterfly and 4x100m medley last week.

Ian James Barr claimed his first medal at the Games with a bronze in the 200m individual medley in 2:06.96.

Malaysia completed the six-day campaign in swimming with a haul of 5-9-3.