Sea Games: Windsurfers look to make splash

Compared to their sailing counterparts, Singapore's windsurfers have not been as successful at South-east Asia (SEA) Games level.

And the chances of their gold-medal drought, which stretches back to Kelly Chan's win in 1989, ending next month in Myanmar look slim, with the sport dominated by powerhouses like Thailand and Indonesia.

But that has not dampened the outlook of Merrick Phang, who will represent Singapore in the RS:One Open category.

While he is looking to make a splash on his SEA Games debut, the 18-year-old from Catholic Junior College believes the windsurfing scene has a bright future with teammates like Wallace Gan and Ynez Lim.

Wallace and Ynez, both 15, will fly the Singapore flag in the Boys and Girls RS:One youth categories.

Merrick said: "The younger batch has a lot of potential and the windsurfers can go quite far in the future.

"Wallace is a very strong competitor. He's about my size and around 8kg heavier and I think he will be more prominent in the future for Singapore windsurfing.

"We're almost there. We just need more time to train because, with school, time management is more essential for us."

Compared to their competitors, one crucial element that Singapore's senior windsurfers like Merrick do not have is experience.

GOOD FIGHT

However, windsurfing coach Sakulfaeng Sakda believes his charges will put up a good fight in Myanmar.

The Thai, who has been coaching in Singapore for two years, said: "We have 28 days to go and we're ready to fight.

"While Merrick will be up against other windsurfers who have more than 10 years of experience, I think the youth have a chance for top three."

While the Singapore Sailing Federation had to rebuild windsurfing from scratch, president Ben Tan believes that successes like Audrey Yong's Youth Olympic Games (YOG) bronze in 2010 are steps in the right direction.

He said: "Four years ago, we were really in the doldrums with windsurfing, so we went back to basics to rebuild the whole thing.

"While it wasn't easy, we have had some positive signs like the YOG bronze, which came faster than we anticipated.

"Windsurfing cannot be missing because it is part of our big picture."

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