SEA Games: Singapore speed-skater Lucas Ng slips up in quest for 500m sprint gold

KUALA LUMPUR — He is one of Singapore’s top hopes for a gold in short track speed skating at the South-East Asian (SEA) Games.

But national speed-skater Lucas Ng’s first attempt for gold at the KL Games came to an ignominious end at the Malaysia National Ice Skating Stadium (Myniss) on Tuesday (Aug 29), when he failed to reach the men’s 500m sprint final after being disqualified for an infringement during the heats.

The 28-year-old had looked a sure-bet for a spot in the final heading into the last round of the sprint. However, just as he approached the finishing line, he lost his balance, and fell as he crashed into the side of the rink.

Ng was subsequently deemed by the judges to have not had both his feet on the ice when he crossed the finish line, and was slapped with a disqualification penalty for ‘kicking out’.

While Ng, who became the first Singaporean to take part in the Asian Winter Games six years ago, tried to put on a brave face when speaking to the media after the race, his disappointment was clear.

“I'm quite disappointed. Everyone has worked hard, and we want to achieve a certain result, but this wasn't what I expected myself to get,” admitted Ng, who moved to South Korea last October to train with an elite group of Korean skaters, which includes 2014 Winter Olympic gold medallist Kong Sang-jeong.

“As you can see from the results today, there were many penalties and many unexpected things that happened, but that's the nature of our sport.

“So I just have to suck it up and learn to live with the results... I just have to sweep today under the carpet and refresh myself for tomorrow (in the 1,000m individual sprint and 3,000m team relay).

“Hopefully things will go as plan then, but I’m not going to set any targets. All I will do is to remain focused on racing fast.”

While Ng was unable to bring home a medal, his tea-mate Cheyenne Goh managed to secure a bronze in the women’s 500m sprint, making her the first Singaporean to win a SEA Games medal in speed-skating.

The 18-year-old clocked 1min 3.34sec in the final to finish third behind Thailand’s Vorravalan Leechinnaphat (53.29sec) and Malaysia’s Anja Chong (48.44s), who took home the silver and gold respectively.

Cheyenne could have finished higher on the podium but for a trip by Malaysia’s Ashley Chin which caused both athletes take a tumble. Chin was eventually penalised and did not complete the race, while Cheyenne laboured on to clinch the bronze.

Nonetheless, Cheyenne insists she had “no regrets” about the race, and added: “I knew I had a chance of a medal (before the race), but after the fall, I wasn't quite sure. Yes, I was a bit disappointed at first, but I just got up and did my best for the rest of the race because anything can happen.

“Overall though, I was quite happy with the racing today because short track racing is quite unpredictable, so I'm pleased with how things eventually turned out.”