Chan stays cool to win S'pore's first archery SEA Games title since 1983
PUBLISHED ONDecember 18, 2013 9:00 PMByLim Say Heng
She took her last shot and hit the bullseye for 10 points, but Chan Jing Ru did not know then if she had made history in the South-east Asia (SEA) Games women’s recurve (individual) final on Monday.
Her rival, Indonesian archer Titik Kusumawadarni, still had to take her final shot at the Wunna Theikdi Archery Field in Naypyidaw, Myanmar.
Speaking to The New Paper on Monday, the 23-year-old said: “After I took my last shot, I walked back to my teammates and the Indonesian was about to go.
“It was only halfway through my walk back that I knew because my teammates were celebrating.”
Chan’s 6-4 victory marked the first time in 30 years that a Singapore archer has won gold at the biennial Games. Indonesia’s Ika Yuliana Rochmawati took the bronze.
The last Singapore archer to win was Sam Tan, in the individual women’s 70m and individual overall events when the Republic hosted the Games in 1983.
What made Monday's win even more memorable was that Chan was competing in her first SEA Games, and her first final in a major competition.
The National University of Singapore life sciences undergraduate said: “Even though it was my first final in a competition as big as this, I wasn’t nervous.
“I just told myself that even if all my shots had landed on the grass I had nothing to lose because I had already secured a medal for Singapore.
“I didn’t even keep track of who was winning — when it was my time to shoot, I just went in, went through my routine and took my shot.”
Chan was back on the field again hours later, in the mixed team event with Tan Si Lie.
But the Singapore duo were beaten 142-136 by Vietnam in the final.
Asked if she was gunning for a place in the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, next year, Chan said: “I haven’t thought so far before this win; I just took things as they came, while I was thinking about doctorate studies.
“But, after this win, I will start thinking about (the Asiad) when I get back.”
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