Asian Games 2023: Wushu's Kimberly Ong clinches 1st medal for Singapore
SEA Games gold medallist's bronze in women's changquan breaks the duck for Singapore, whose athletes came close in earlier events
SINGAPORE — Singapore earned its first medal at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou on Monday morning (25 September), as wushu athlete Kimberly Ong clinched a bronze medal in the women's changquan event.
The 21-year-old, who won gold medals at both the 2022 and 2023 SEA Games, was awarded 9.756 points following her performance at the Xiaoshan Guali Sports Centre. Macau's Li Yi (9.786) came in first, while Hong Kong's Liu Xuxu earned the silver medal (9.756).
Zoe Tan, Singapore's other representative in the event, came in fourth with 9.753 points.
This is Singapore's first wushu medal since 2014, when Tan Yan Ni also won bronze in the same event in Incheon.
Near-misses for medal wins on Sunday
Ong's bronze-medal win broke the duck for Team Singapore, after a slew of close misses on the first day of Games competition on Sunday.
The women's 10m air rifle team of Martina Veloso, Eunice Leow and Fernel Tan narrowly missed earning a bronze medal, after they compiled a total score of 1876.9 points to finish in fourth place, just 3.1 points behind bronze winners Mongolia (1880.0 points).
There were also close calls at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Park Aquatics Centre, after Singapore swimmer Gan Ching Hwee came in fourth in the women's 1,500m freestyle, an event which the 20-year-old had already won twice at the SEA Games.
She clocked 16min 24.67sec to finish behind Japan's bronze medallist Yukimi Moriyama (16:17.78). China's Li Bingjie won the event in a Games record 15:51.18, with compatriot Gao Weizhong claiming silver (16:05.73).
Singapore's women's 4x100m freestyle relay team also came in fourth, as Quah Ting Wen, Quah Jing Wen, Amanda Lim and Nur Marina Chan clocked 3:44.16 to finish behind China (3:33.96), Japan (3:38.48) and Hong Kong (3:39.10).
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