Singapore teen sets new SEA Games record in the pool

VIENTIANE, Laos — Singapore schoolgirl Quah Ting Wen set a meet record in the 100-meter freestyle and helped break another record in a relay, leading the city-state's surge to the top of the medal standings at the Southeast Asian Games. On Friday, Singapore had 11 gold medals, three ahead of the nearest rival Thailand, which also had 13 silver and seven bronze medals. Vietnam was in third place with six gold, five silver and eight bronze. Singapore led the table early Friday with 21 medals, including three silver and eight bronze. The 16-year-old Quah clocked 56.03 seconds in the final late Thursday to break the mark of 56.05 set by compatriot Jocelin Yeo in 1999. "I was quite nervous at the beginning of the race because all the others are good swimmers," Quah told The Associated Press. She said she hadn't expected to set any records. "I was hoping to do my best," said Quah, who describes herself as "quiet boring" since "I am usually swimming or studying." She is competing in seven other events. Natthanan Junkrajang of Thailand — a star of the 2007 SEA Games —took silver and Lim Xiang Qi, another Singaporean was third. Singapore won both 200 backstroke finals, with Zach Ong winning the men's gold in 2:03.27 minutes and Li Tao winning the women's in 2:17.12. Singapore also picked up gold in the men's and women's 800 freestyle relays. Quah led off in the women's race, helping Singapore to a time of 8:11.75, slashing the record of 8:20.77 set by Thailand in 2007. Malaysia's Koh Ting Ting won the women's 200 individual medley in a meet record 2:14.57, improving on Singaporean Yeo's 2:17.17 mark from 10 years ago. Thailand's latest gold came in English Billiard Double, which was won by 47-year-old defending champion Praprut Chaithanasakun on Thursday night. The country's other victories came in shooting, taekwondo and women's 48 kilograms weightlifting. Singapore's Goh Jiya Yi set the tone for the island nation's successes by winning the women's 10-meter air rifle event early in the day. She was followed by Zhang Jin, who won the men's 10-meter air rifle. Singapore's women and men won their respective table tennis team events. "The challenge for us is to try to do well at these games and lift our swimmers so they will be competitive at the continental level and beyond," said Teo Chee Hean, a Cabinet minister and president of the Singapore National Olympic Committee. – AP