Shuttler Wong, fencer Lee set for Asiad debuts

SINGAPORE — Shuttler Derek Wong has his Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver medal to thank after earning a late go-ahead from the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) for next month’s Incheon Asian Games.

The SNOC’s final list of 227 athletes included Wong and 44 other athletes from badminton, fencing, football, hockey, equestrian and judo who were granted late inclusion to the Sept 19 to Oct 4 Games.

While Wong, ranked 40 in the world, did not meet the qualification criteria of top six in Asia, his victories over higher-ranked Indian players K Srikanth (29) and R V Gurusaidutt (34) — who defeated top seeded Malaysian Chong Wei Feng (18) — in Glasgow earned kudos from sports officials and fans alike.

Said Wong, 25: “This will be my first Asian Games and it means a lot to me as athletes want to experience all the major Games. Badminton at the Asian Games will be similar to the Olympics because the top 10 players in the world will be there.”

Fencer Samson Lee is also heading for an Asiad debut in the men’s individual epee and men’s epee team after his appeal was granted, alongside epee team-mates Lim Wei Wen and Willie Khoo, and women’s sabre fencer Lau Ywen.

At last month’s Asian Fencing Championships, Lee upset Kazakhstan’s top-seeded Dmitry Gryanov and Elmir Alimzhanov — who finished fifth at the last Asian Games — before he was eliminated in the quarter-finals. A part-time fencing coach at Blade Club, Lee chose to forgo university after completing his National Service in 2011 to train full-time, and he told TODAY: “This is the biggest event for me this year. I want to get into the top four, and a medal is the target.

“I also have the SEA Games next year, and my goal is to win gold in the individual epee and team event.”

Judokas Ho Han Boon, a gold medallist (+100kg) at the Myanmar SEA Games, Ang Xuan Yi and Gabriel Yang were also late inclusions, as were equestrian athlete Catherine Chew, and the men’s hockey and under-23 football teams.

Veteran paddler Yang Zi, 30, was a surprise omission from the men’s table tennis team, with his place taken by Chen Feng, 20. Yang won a mixed doubles bronze at the 2006 Doha Asian Games. LOW LIN FHOONG