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Scott Wong ditches discus for weights

SINGAPORE — The national track and field team is set to lose discus thrower Scott Wong a day after the Singapore Athletic Association (SAA) announced his surprise withdrawal from the Dec 11-22 South-east Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar.

SINGAPORE — The national track and field team is set to lose discus thrower Scott Wong a day after the Singapore Athletic Association (SAA) announced his surprise withdrawal from the Dec 11-22 South-east Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar.

Touted as a successor to multiple SEA Games champion James Wong, the 23-year-old has decided to switch to weightlifting.

The third-year medical student at the University of Manchester made the move after the SAA could not fund his flight from Manchester to Singapore, where he would depart for the Myanmar Games.

“Several months ago, I was training in the weightlifting gym at the Singapore Weightlifting Federation (SWF) and coach Wu (Chuanfu) talked to me about my potential,” Scott told TODAY. “The strength training for throws incorporates many weightlifting elements, and I am in a good position to try it out.”

Citing the lack of support from the SAA as one of the reasons for switching to weightlifting, he added: “An athlete based overseas like myself is not obliged to pay for any portion of the return airfare to represent Singapore at a major Games, and it is difficult for me to spend such a sum of money.

“Discussions with the coaches from Singapore, Australia and Manchester indicate I have a solid foundation to excel in weightlifting for Singapore, and I feel it is a good opportunity.

“The most encouraging part is that the SWF has demonstrated its sincerity and willingness to give me its full support. I have no regrets giving up my SEA Games spot because I can now focus entirely on my new sport.”

Scott posted a personal best (PB) distance of 48.57m in the discus — it qualified him for the SEA Games — at a university meet in England in May. He also recorded a new PB in the shot put after heaving 16.06m at the same event.

SAA Chief of Sports Development and Performance Loh Chan Pew said Scott’s departure is a loss, but explained they do not want to set a precedent by paying for athletes’ travel.

“He is a very determined and hardworking boy with good potential,” said Loh. “If he continues to train, he will definitely be a medal prospect at the 2015 SEA Games. I’m very disappointed ... he was definitely a successor to James Wong.”

Scott trains thrice a week with Team Manchester Weightlifting Club head coach Terry Surridge, and communicates via teleconference and SMS with SWF head coach Wu to improve his technique.

He will make his international bow at the International Weightlifting Federation World Championships in Poland from Oct 16 to 27, where he will compete alongside team-mate Lewis Chua in the men’s over 105kg category, before taking on the British Northern League a month later.

The 1.80m tall, 116kg Scott currently lifts a total of 290kg (snatch 130kg, clean and jerk 160kg) and aims to meet the qualifying mark of 312kg for next year’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

“Scott has not had a lot of training and can lift this much already with his raw strength,” said Wu.

“The biggest challenge is he is not in Singapore, but we work and analyse his techniques when he sends me videos from Manchester.”

Added SWF President Tom Liaw: “We are happy to have any athlete who expresses an interest in training competitively. Scott is very talented as an athlete and that makes him easier to train. The aim is for him to qualify for the Commonwealth Games first, but I think he can easily improve by 20 to 30kg.”

Scott is also eyeing gold at the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore, and hopes to compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

He said: “It will surely be true pride and achievement when the fraternity will cite me as a possible successor to the incredible Mr Tan Howe Liang.”

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