sport 쐽 THE STRAITS TIMES FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 2008 PAGE B29
More medals
for heroines
PARALYMPIC champion Yip Pin Xiu re-
turned home last night, along with the
rest of Singapore’s Beijing Games team,
to a boisterous welcome and good news.
At Changi Airport Terminal 3, Minis-
ter for Community Development, Youth
and Sports, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, an-
nounced that the 16-year-old swimmer,
who has muscular dystrophy, will be con-
ferred the Meritorious Service Medal.
The Bendemeer Secondary 4 student
set two new world records en route to the
gold in the women’s 50m (S3) backstroke
and a silver in the 50m freestyle.
Equestrian Laurentia Tan, 29, who
bagged two bronzes – Asia’s first medals
in the sport – will be conferred the Public
Service Medal.
As Singapore’s two first Paralympic
medallists and their teammates Theresa
Goh, Eric Ting, Jovin Tan and Desiree
Lim appeared, the 300-strong crowd
cheered wildly and bombarded the ath-
letes with a barrage of camera flashes.
A victory parade for the team will be-
gin at 2.20pm tomorrow, with the ath-
letes driven along Orchard Road in six sep-
arate sporty convertibles.
A celebratory event at Orchard Cinelei-
sure will also be held from 3pm to 5pm.
The public can join in the event or
catch the parade as it travels through the
Suntec City area.
JEANETTE WANG
KEEP WATER POLO IN GAMES
S’pore appeal to Laos to
retain sport when they
host 2009 SEA Games
BY JEANETTE WANG
THE sport of water polo has never
skipped a South-east Asia (SEA) Games
since its 1965 debut in the biennial meet,
and Singapore are hoping to keep it that
way at next year’s edition in Laos.
The Republic, who have won all 22 ti-
tles since the sport’s inclusion, have of-
fered assistance to the first-time hosts in
an appeal to have water polo in the pro-
gramme for the 25th edition of the
Games.
This was confirmed by Singapore Na-
tional Olympic Council secretary-general
Chris Chan, who attended a Sports &
Rules Committee meeting for the 2009
Games in Vientiane last week.
Laos have said that they will have a
maximum of 25 sports, a huge decrease
from the 43 offered at last December’s
Thailand SEA Games.
This is due to the landlocked country’s
lack of facilities, equipment and technical
expertise in certain sports.
At present, the list has 22 sports, with
Olympic sports such as cycling, triathlon,
sailing, basketball, gymnastics, hockey,
rowing and weightlifting excluded.
Scorecard
BADMINTON
Japan Open: 2nd rd: Men’s singles: Lee
Chong Wei (Mas) bt Sho Sasaki 21-7 22-20,
Qiu Yanbo (Chn) bt Simon Santoso (Ina)
21-10 8-6 (ret), Taufik Hidayat (Ina) bt Jan
Jorgensen (Den) 21-10 21-12, Joachim Pers-
son (Den) bt Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) 21-14
21-15, Kenichi Tago (Jpn) bt Alamsyah Yu-
nus (Ina) 13-21 21-14 21-11, Lu Yi (Chn) bt
Gong Weijie (Chn) 21-11 21-23 21-15, Roslin
Hashim (Mas) bt Boonsak Ponsana (Tha)
21-17 21-15, Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Ina) bt
Sairul Amar Ayob (Mas) 21-8 21-7, Lu Lan
(Chn) bt Kaori Imabeppu (Jpn) 21-7 21-8.
Women’s singles: Maria Kristin Yulianti
(Ina) bt Wong Mew Choo (Mas) 18-21 21-13
21-6, Hwang Hye Youn (Kor) bt Xu Huai-
wen (Ger) 21-18 21-15, Zhou Mi (Hkg) bt Me-
gumi Taruno (Jpn) 21-13 21-12, Wang Yihan
(Chn) bt Yip Pui Yin (Hkg) 21-12 21-7, Eriko
Hirose (Jpn) bt Fu Mingtian (Sin) 21-13
21-10, Wang Chen (Hkg) w/o Jiang Yanjiao
(Chn), Tine Rasmussen (Den) bt Wang Lin
(Chn) 10-21 21-11 21-18.
BASKETBALL
Singapore Challenge Series: Singapore Slin-
gers 124 Air 21 (Phi) 86.
CYCLING
Tour of Spain: 148km 17th stage from Zamora
to Valladolid: 1 Wouter Weylandt
(Bel/Quick-Step) 3hr 18min 48sec. 2 Matti
Breschel (Den/Team CSC). 3 Alexandre Us-
ov (Blr/AG2R). 4 Koldo Fernandez
(Esp/Euskaltel). 5 Heinrich Haussler
(Ger/Gerolsteiner) – all same time. Overall:
1 Alberto Contador (Esp/Astana) 69hr
53min 52sec. 2 Levi Leipheimer
(USA/Astana) +1min 17sec. 3 Carlos Sastre
(Esp/Team CSC) +3:41. 4 Ezequiel Mos-
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“This job is very important for me. It gives me something to do.”
Olympic 800m champion and millionaire Pamela Jelimo, 18. She will continue with her job as a junior police officer in Kenya
Dr Balakrishnan congratulating swimmer Yip Pin Xiu on her return last night. ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM
Water polo is considered an event un-
der the sport of aquatics.
Singapore Swimming Association wa-
ter polo committee member Tan Hong
Boon said that the association was offer-
ing Laos technical assistance, as well as
help in setting up their national water po-
lo team.
“First of all, they don’t have a team, so
they won’t have the technical expertise to
run a water polo competition,” said Tan,
41.
“We will provide technical assistance
and some officials. I’m sure those coun-
tries that also want to take part, like Ma-
laysia, Indonesia and Philippines, will of-
fer some officials too.”
Laos certainly have the facilities to
host the sport – an Olympic-sized pool
can be converted easily using lane ropes
and goalposts for water polo.
Said Chan: “We shouldn’t even be ap-
pealing for water polo’s inclusion. Aquat-
ics is a compulsory sport of the Games,
and it should have the disciplines of swim-
ming, diving and water polo.”
Other sports, such as cycling and bas-
ketball, also have appeals led by other
countries.
According to Chan, the International
Canoe Federation wrote to all the
South-east Asian national Olympic coun-
cils, asking for their support for the inclu-
sion of canoeing in the Games.
Race leader Alberto Contador talking to team manager Johan Bruyneel during the 17th stage of
the Tour of Spain. The race ends on Sunday in Madrid. If Contador – the 2007 Tour de France
winner and reigning Giro d’Italia champion – wins the Vuelta, he will become the first cyclist since
Frenchman Bernard Hinault, over two decades ago, to win all three major Tours. PHOTO: REUTERS
quera (Esp/Xacobeo) +4:35. 5 Robert Gesink
(Ned/Rabobank) +5:49.
FOOTBALL
Uefa Champions League: 1st rd – Group E:
Celtic (Sco) 0 Aalborg (Den) 0, Manchester
United (Eng) 0 Villarreal (Esp) 0. Group F:
Lyon (Fra) 2 Fiorentina (Ita) 2, Steaua Bucha-
rest (Rom) 0 Bayern Munich (Ger) 1. Group
G: Dynamo Kiev (Ukr) 1 Arsenal (Eng) 1, FC
Porto (Por) 3 Fenerbahce (Tur) 1. Group H:
Juventus (Ita) 1 Zenit St Petersburg (Rus) 0,
Real Madrid (Esp) 2 BATE Borisov (Blr) 0.
GOLF
Fortis International Challenge: In Kuala
Lumpur, final qualifier for World Cup in No-
쏆 (Live, Ch21, Sunday, 1.55am).
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ADVOCATE GROUP
They have also offered logistical and fi-
nancial support for the organisation of
the canoeing event.
Chan said the final list of sports and
events will be confirmed at a meeting in
November.
Should Singapore’s appeal for water
polo fail, Tan said there were two op-
tions.
One is to hold the SEA Games water po-
lo competition in Singapore. The other is
to host an invitational tournament here.
“When the sport was excluded from
the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth
Games, a Commonwealth Water Polo
Championships was held,” said Tan.
“The only thing is, if we do host an in-
vitational, there won’t be a SEA Games
medal for it.”
Next year’s Games mark Laos’ maiden
vember (top three teams go through), 1st rd
(fourball): 63 South Korea. 66 Singapore
(Mardan Mamat, Lam Chih Bing), Hong
Kong. 67 Ghana, Philippines. 68 Pakistan,
Italy. 69 Nigeria. 70 Brunei, Kenya, Myan-
mar. 71 Indonesia, Swaziland. 72 Bangla-
desh, Sri Lanka, Nepal. 73 Uganda, Malay-
sia.
TENNIS
WTA Pan Pacific Open: In Tokyo, 2nd rd: Svet-
lana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt Ayumi Morita
(Jpn) 6-1 6-1, Jelena Jankovic (Srb) bt Flavia
Pennetta (Ita) 6-2 6-1, Agnieszka Radwans-
ka (Pol) bt Marion Bartoli (Fra) 6-2 6-3, Ele-
na Dementieva (Rus) bt Alize Cornet (Fra)
6-0 6-3, Dinara Safina (Rus) bt Dominika
Cibulkova (Svk) 6-3 6-4.
쏆
“We will provide technical
assistance. I’m sure those
countries that also want to
take part, like Malaysia,
Indonesia and Philippines, will
offer some officials too.”
TAN HONG BOON, SSA water polo
committee member
hosting of the meet – and a high chance
that for the first time, a SEA Games will
charge television rights, according to
Chan.
He heads the Games’ think-tank group
looking into the possibility of selling the
rights. He said: “Laos are facing a real
problem hosting the Games, so they have
asked whether they can charge TV
rights.”
In the past, Asean broadcasters never
had to pay for SEA Games TV rights be-
cause of Article 5a of the SEA Games char-
ter.
This states that the broadcast rights be-
long to all national Olympic committees,
and that each committee has the authori-
ty to confer the rights to one or more lo-
cal TV stations.
jwang@sph.com.sg
72 hours
TODAY
CYCLING
Tour of Spain: Stage 19 (Live, Ch113, 10pm).
FOOTBALL
S-League: Balestier v Woodlands, (Jalan
Besar, 7.30pm. Live, Ch5, 7.25pm).
German Bundesliga: Leverkusen v Hannover
(Live, Ch27, tomorrow, 2.30am).
GOLF
Ryder Cup: Day 1: (Live, Ch26 & Ch304,
8pm).
POOL
Guinness 9-Ball Tour: Guangzhou:
Preliminaries (Live, Ch24, 5pm).
TENNIS
Davis Cup s-finals: Day 1: Spain v USA (Live,
Ch22, 6pm).
TOMORROW
BADMINTON
Japan Open: S-finals (Live, Ch22, 11am).
CYCLING
Tour of Spain: Stage 20 (Live, Ch113,
10.15pm).
FOOTBALL
EPL: Sunderland v Middlesbrough (Live,
Ch27, 7.45pm), Blackburn v Fulham (Live,
Ch21, 10pm), Liverpool v Stoke (Live,
Ch27, 10pm), West Ham v Newcastle
(Live, Ch22, 10pm), Bolton v Arsenal (Live,
Ch27, Sunday, 12.30am).
Spanish Primera Liga: A. Madrid v Recreativo
Dutch c’ship: Alkmaar v Eindhoven (Live,
Ch116, Sunday, 2.45am).
GOLF
Ryder Cup: Day 2 (Live, Ch26 & Ch304,
8pm).
POOL
Guinness 9-Ball Tour: Guangzhou: Q-finals
SPORTSWORLD
Rugby bash to
honour 1978 team
THE Singapore rugby team, who
won the Republic’s first
Malaysian Rugby Union Cup in
1978, will be holding a 30th
anniversary celebratory bash
with a dinner at Copthorne
Orchid Hotel (Dunearn Road)
tomorrow at 6.30pm.
That year, the team also
finished third in the Asian rugby
tournament behind powerhouses
Japan and South Korea.
For their achievements, they
won the Sportsman of the Year
(Song Koon Poh), Coach of the
Year (Natahar Bava) and Team
of the Year awards.
Lam and Mardan in
joint second spot
KUALA LUMPUR: On day one of
the Fortis International
Challenge at Kota Permai Golf
and Country Club yesterday,
Singapore’s pair of Lam Chih
Bing and Mardan Mamat are
tied for second place with Hong
Kong in a field of 18 countries.
They posted six-under-par
66 to trail leaders Bae Sang
Moon and Kim Hyung Tae of
South Korea by three strokes.
Selection trials for
tennis ball kids
AVIVA Ltd will be holding
selection trials on Sept 27 and
28 at the Marina Square
Shopping Centre tennis courts
for ball kids for next year’s
Australian Open.
Singaporeans and PRs aged
from 12 to 15 can sign up by
downloading the registration
forms from aviva-asia.com.
Parents will need to sign the
forms, then scan and e-mail
them to
aviva_ballkids@aviva-asia.com.
Registration will be accepted on
a first-come-first-served basis.
Aviva Ltd will sponsor the
childrens’s airfare and
accommodation.
Dementieva and
Jankovic in q-finals
TOKYO: Former world tennis
No 1 Ana Ivanovic crashed in
the Pan Pacific Open yesterday,
but top seed Jelena Jankovic and
Beijing Olympic gold medallist
Elena Dementieva marched on.
Ivanovic, the second seed,
fell to Russian Nadia Petrova
1-6, 6-1, 2-6. Jankovic breezed
past Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-1,
and Dementieva whipped Alize
Cornet 6-0, 6-3 to qualify for
the quarter-finals.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
(Live, Ch24, noon).
TENNIS
WTA Pan Pacific Open: S-finals (Live, Ch113,
noon and 7pm).
Davis Cup s-finals: Day 2: Spain v USA
(Delayed, Ch22, midnight).
WATERSPORTS
WaterFest: Jet Jam (Pasir Ris Park, 2.30pm).
SUNDAY
BADMINTON
Japan Open: Finals (Live, Ch22, 11am).
BASKETBALL
Singapore Challenge Series: Singapore
Slingers v AIR 21 (Phi) (Singapore Indoor
Stadium, 4pm).
FOOTBALL
EPL: West Bromwich Albion v Aston Villa
(Live, Ch21, 7pm), Chelsea v Manchester
United (Live, Ch27 & Ch304, 9pm),
Manchester City v Portsmouth (Live, Ch22,
10pm), Tottenham v Wigan (Live, Ch21,
10pm).
Scottish Premier League: Kilmarnock v Celtic
(Live, Ch115, 11pm).
Spanish Primera Liga: Racing v Real Madrid
(Live, Ch21, Monday, 2.55am).
GOLF
Ryder Cup: Day 3 (Live, Ch26 & Ch304,
11.55pm).
POOL
Guinness 9-Ball Tour: Guangzhou: S-finals
(noon). Final (3pm) – Live, Ch24.
TENNIS
WTA Pan Pacific Open: Final (Live, Ch113,
noon).
Davis Cup s-finals: Day 3: Spain v USA (Live,
Ch22, 6pm).
WATERSPORTS
WaterFest: Water Ski C’ships (Bedok
Reservoir, 2pm).