Waterskier Leong wins Indonesia Open, tipped for SEA Games gold

SINGAPORE — If he keeps up his current form, Singapore national water skier Mark Leong could well be a gold medal contender at the South-east Asian (SEA) Games in June this year.

The 16-year-old won the men’s slalom final at the Indonesia Open in Bandung yesterday in a national record, rounding three buoys on a 12m rope. He rewrote his own previous national mark of one buoy on a 12m rope. He finished ahead of Indonesia’s Indra Hardinata and Daud Fath Wangka, who shared second place, with Eka Fajar Samudra placed third.

But the fact that he beat SEA Games favourites Daud and Indra, who won gold and bronze medals, respectively, in the men’s slalom at the 2011 SEA Games, has given Singapore Waterski and Wakeboard Federation president Paul Fong confidence the SEA Games gold medal is definitely within reach for Mark.

“Mark is definitely one of the favourites for the SEA Games gold (in men’s slalom). Anything can happen on that day of competition,” said Fong, who is also his coach.

“Mark will train four to five times a week at the Bedok Reservoir, which is the venue for the SEA Games competition and our home ground. In fact, I believe he can go as far as (becoming) a champion at the Asian Games one day.”

The 1.88m-tall Mark, who is a Secondary Four student at Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road), had underlined his potential after beating Roger Koa’s 20-year-old national record at the Asian Beach Games in Phuket in November last year.

In a phone interview from Bandung yesterday, Mark said the meet was a valuable opportunity to see where he stood in the region ahead of the SEA Games in Singapore.

“The other competitors really put up a fight, and they were truly formidable,” he said. “It was a really good preparation towards the SEA Games as I will be up against the same athletes.”

The last time waterskiing featured at the SEA Games was at the 2011 edition in Palembang, where Singapore’s medallists included Sasha Christian (women’s wakeboard gold, women’s slalom silver and overall bronze), Kalya Kee (women’s wakeboard silver) and Christian Kheng (men’s wakeboard bronze).