Unprecedented win for Singapore at the Optimist Worlds
by Shu Fen 9 Jan 2007 11:04 GMT
Singapore's Griselda Khng wins the women's Optimist worlds title © Manlio Ferrari
Singapore has won three world titles at the Optimist World Sailing Championship which ended today in Uruguay.
15 year old Singapore Sports School student Griselda Khng added a girl’s world title under her belt ending her Optimist career with a golden touch. She emerged as the top female and second overall champion at the World Championships. Griselda starting sailing the Optimist five years ago when she was 10 and will be overaged for the under-15 class this year.
Last Thursday, the team of five sailors beat three-time Gold medalist Peru to secure the IODA Challenge Cup (team racing title). Singapore also walked away with the Miami Herald Trophy (the Nations Championship) awarded to the country with the best aggregate score of their top four sailors. The Republic's five-member team, including Timothy Seet and Sean Lee, both 15, and Russell Kan and Rachel Lee, both 13, all lie within the top 15 overall.
Julian Autenrieth from Germany clinched the World Championship by finishing two points ahead of Griselda Khng in the final race. In third place is Edgar Diminich from Ecuador.
“What an amazing achievement by the Singapore sailors. They have put on their best, individually and as a team, to clinch three titles at the Worlds. Such outstanding performance is unprecedented and the best displayed ever by any country at the Optimist Sailing Worlds,” said Team Manager Edwin Low.
Singapore's best individual finish before was Teo Wee Chin's fifth-placing at Qingdao in 2001.
The excellent performances displayed by the Singapore sailors have cemented Singapore as one of the top youth sailing nations in the world. Singapore swept 5 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals at the Asian Games three weeks ago, earning the top sailing nation spot in Doha. Besides the Optimist titles, they also clinched six World titles in the past 18 months, winning the 2005 Youth World Championships (420 boys), 2006 Byte World Championships (boys and girls) and 2006 Laser 4.7 World Championships (boys and girls).
The IODA World Sailing Championship is held from 29 December 2006 to 9 January 2007 in Montevideo, Uruguay. The racing area is located in the waters surrounding the Puerto del Buceo and the shore venue will be the Yacht Club Uruguayo.
The team representing Singapore in Uruguay includes; Russell KAN Tsung Liang, Griselda KHNG, Rachel LEE Qing, Sean LEE Teik Ren, Timothy SEET Qianren, Edwin LOW - Team Manager, Fernando ALEGRE - Coach & Nilju CHINAKRIT (Sommai) – Coach.
They return to Singapore on 11 January 2007 at 5.45pm arriving at Changi International Airport.