VETERAN shuttler Loong Chee Meng emerged as the best achiever in the competitive (Grade-B) category individual events for the Kelab Century Paradise (KCP) side at the World Masters Games at Sydney in Australia recently.
Besides forging a winning partnership with Debbie Lorenzo from the United States to capture the gold medal in the 55 to 59 years mixed doubles, the 59-year-old businessman added another silver and bronze medal to his collection.
Fruitful outing: Loong (left) sharing a light moment with his team mates (from second left) Perez, G. Subramaniam, Woo, Lim and Ang. Loong teamed up with Chua Kok Keong to settle for the second spot in the 55 to 59 years men’s doubles category as well as finishing third in the men’s singles of the similar age-group.
Loong admitted that Lady Luck was on their side in the tussle for supremacy in the mixed doubles encounter.
“We lost to the pair (Jenniffer Simms-John Morrish) and finished second in the group to advance to the semi-finals. Although we took the first game against them in the final, they fought back to force the match down to the wire. We knew that we should dominate the front court because the male opponent (Morrish) on the other side had better reach in dictating the attacking pace from the back court. We were glad that our plan in opting to place the shots away from him paid dividends,” he said.
It was also a taxing experience for Loong to feature in all three individual events for five consecutive days.
“The climate was cooler compared with the hot and humid tropical weather here. I did not encounter any major muscle pull. But, I felt the fatigue and it affected my movement on the court as the tournament progressed,” he added.
In their debut at the Games, other players in the KCP line-up based at the KKlub in Taman Malawati also delivered a gold medal, a silver and two bronze medals in the B-Grade categories.
Chua was part of the victorious team in the mixed team competition of the Grade-B section in the 40 to 44 years age group and also combined with Jane Woo for the bronze medal in the 55 to 59 years mixed doubles.
Woo picked up another bronze medal (55 to 59 years) in the women’s singles contest.
In addition, the combination Allan Ang-J.R. Khoo finished second in the 45 to 49 years men’s doubles.
It was an upsetting climax for the KCP45 side when they failed in their bid to overcome Fitness 4 Life, Victoria for the third spot in the B-Grade mixed team event.
In the tie decided over nine matches (three men’s doubles, three women’s doubles and three mixed doubles), both team were levelled at 4-4 before the encounter ended in an abrupt fashion. They were only given three hours to complete the playoff.
In the final match of the tie, KCP’s mixed doubles partnership of Ang-Adeline Ong came back from a poor start losing 8-15 in the first game to take the lead in the second game 14-13. But, the tie was decided on countback in their opponents’ favour.
Among the players in the KCP45 line-up were Khoo, Yap Kim Chung, Alphonso Perez, Lim Poh Lee, Lisa Ochs and Laurie Chow.
For the next Games scheduled in Italy in 2013, they are aiming to field a stronger team for a more impressive campaign.
Team captain Allan Ang said they needed to strengthen their team with more competent women’s representatives.
“We still fancy our chances in doing well in the mixed team event. We could have done better with a more thorough preparation towards the Games,” he added.
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