Young talent Christina Loh delivered the eighth and final gold medal for Malaysia in the women’s 50m breaststroke but it was the end of the Olympic dream for Daniel Bego.
Christina denied team-mate Siow Yi Ting the chance to add the 50m title to her victories in the 100m and 200m by touching home first in 33.16.
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| Getting better: Christina Loh beat team-mate Siow Yi Ting to the gold medal in the 50m breaststroke at the South-East Asia Swimming Championships in Singapore. |
It was not an Olympic event but, nevertheless, good enough for her to affirm her growing reputation as the successor to Yi Ting, who will probably retire after the London Olympics.
It was the first gold of the meet for Christina, who also won the event at the Indonesia SEA Games last November.
Another swimmer who could be forced to re-think his career is Daniel after his failure to make the cut in the final qualifying meet for the London Games.
Daniel, on a comeback trail after taking a whole year off to recover from two shoulder surgeries, missed out on the Olympic selection time of 1:51.59 after taking bronze in the 200m freestyle final in 1:52.44.
Fellow Malaysian Lim Ching Hwang was also outside the selection time despite taking the silver in 1:52.18.
The 200m freestyle was Daniel’s best shot at making the grade for the Olympics having won the event at the last three SEA Games.
He holds the national record of 1:49.22, which he clocked while wearing the now banned polyurethane swimsuit during the Laos SEA Games in 2009.
It was a big blow to Daniel, who was the only male swimmer to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in 2008 before making his presence felt with a five-gold performance at the Laos SEA Games the following year.
Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (ASUM) secretary Edwin Chong said it was not surprising that Daniel had failed to qualify as he only saw action in two meets this year.
Besides the SEA meet, Daniel competed in the national age-group championships in Kuala Lumpur in March.
“Daniel didn’t even defend his SEA Games titles in Indonesia last November as he hadn’t fully recovered.
“Daniel has no chance to see Olympic action now. We didn’t apply for a wildcard as we have swimmers who have beaten the selection times. Now, we have to wait for FINA (governing body for aquatics) to compile the rankings and decide who qualify.
“It’s tougher compared to previous Olympics but, hopefully, we will still have two or three swimmers going to London,” said Edwin.
The six who made the Olympic selection time are Yi Ting (100m and 200m breaststroke), Khoo Cai Lin (400m and 800m freestyle), Kevin Yeap (1500m freestyle), Christina (100m breaststroke), Yap See Tuan (200m breaststroke) and Chui Lai Kwan (50m freestyle).
Malaysia finished the inaugural SEA meet with a total medal tally of 8-9-8.
RESULTS
Men
50m backstroke: 1. Gede Siman Sudartawa (Ina) 25.67, 2. Glenn Victor Susanto (Ina) 26.29, 3.
Quah Zheng Wen (Sin) 26.58. Selected: 4. Tern Jian Han (Mas) 26.87, 6. Ian James Barr (Mas)27.19.
200m butterfly: 1. Quah Zheng Wen (Sin) 1:59.22, 2. Triady Fauzi (Ina) 2:03..23, 3. Rainer Ng
(Sin) 2:04.26. Selected: 4. Vernon Lee (Mas) 2:08.22.
200m freestyle: 1. Yeo Kai Quan (Sin) 1:50.71, 2. Lim Ching Hwang (Mas) 1:52.18, 3. Daniel Bego
(Mas) 1:52.44.
4x100m medley relay: 1. Indonesia 3:44.99, 2. Singapore 3:49.34, 3. Malaysia 3:57.85.
Women
50m freestyle: 1. Lim Xiang Qi (Sin) 25.71, 2. Ong Chui Bin (Sin) 25.86, 3. Srisa-ard Jenjira
(Tha) 26.27. Selected: 4. Chui Lai kwan (Mas) 26.32.
50m breaststroke: 1. Christina Loh (Mas) 33.16, 2. Siow Yi Ting (Mas) 33.21, 3. Samantha Yeo
(Sin) 33.66.
200m butterfly: 1. Monaliza Aries (Ina) 2:16.25, 2. Hii Siew Siew (Mas) 2:16.45, 3. Raina Saumi
(Ina) 2:16.74.
400m individual medley: 1. Nguyen Thi Anh (Vie) 4:50.27, 2. Erika Kong (Mas) 4:59.19, 3. Ressa
Kaniadewi (Ina) 5:02.06.
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