By Jonathan Wong

VIENTIANE: They might look the same but the silver medals hanging around wrestler Sulaiman Yusof and pool player Charlene Chai’s necks will feel very different.

For Sulaiman, winning Singapore’s first wrestling medal at the SEA Games is a great achievement and provides the validation his sport desperately seeks.

As a relatively new sport — the Wrestling Federation of Singapore was set up only last year after Singapore won the bid to host the 2010 Youth Olympic Games — he hopes his achievement in Laos will raise awareness about wrestling in Singapore.

He said:

“If it can encourage people back home to try something new and help establish a future for wrestling, then that’s enough for me.”

The 27-year-old debutant, who took up the sport a year ago, finished second in the men’s 74kg freestyle category, behind gold medallist Phonexay Phach-anxay, 20, of Laos.

In contrast, this is Chai’s third SEA Games.

And while it was her best finish since her debut in Manila, where she finished third in the 8-ball singles, it was a case of what might have been for the 29-year-old.

She was beaten 7–3 by Filipina Rubilen Amit, 28, in the women’s 9-ball pool singles final yesterday after a series of costly errors ruined her gold-medal aspirations.

With the scores tied at 2–2, she potted the cue ball to hand the game to her opponent. In the next game, she missed a straightforward pot of the 7 ball to concede another game.

She was unable to recover from the deficit as Amit closed out the match and claimed another title after clinching the 8-ball singles on Monday.

Said a disappointed Chai:

“It was a bit scrappy at the beginning but I made some crucial mistakes.
After that, she was just too good for me.”

A series of errors in the 9-ball pool singles final yesterday cost Singapore’s Charlene Chai the gold medal. ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN