Newsbreak: Daryl Tan wins Singapore its first YOG medal!

The report:

Wonderful news: Singapore has won its first medal at the Youth Olympic Games! And the winner of that medal is unheralded taekwondo exponent Daryl Tan.

I learnt of the news when I went to The Straits Times’s website.

The report is below.

My heartiest congratulations to Daryl for creating sporting history for Singapore. Well done, young man!

Yours in sport

Singapore Sports Fan

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Singapore’s first YOG medal

(The Straits Times, Online Edition, 16 August 2010)

By Sanjay Nair

TAEKWONDO exponent Daryl Tan created Singapore sporting history on Monday afternoon by becoming the Republic’s first medal-winner at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

The 17-year-old Raffles Institution (Junior College) student is virtually guaranteed of at least a bronze medal in the 12-strong Boys 55kg competition after winning his quarter-final bout.

Daryl, who received a bye into the quarter-finals, defeated Myanmar’s Shein Naing Dwe Shein 6-5 at the International Convention Centre, to reach the semi-finals which will be held on Monday evening.

As there are no play-offs for the bronze medal, it means that all losing semi-finalists will be assured of the bronze medal.

Daryl was stunned when The Straits Times broke the news to him. ‘I had no idea that this would be Singapore’s first medal,’ he said after the news finally sank in.

Hailing Daryl’s unexpected success, Teo Ser Luck, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Youth and Sports and Transport, said: ‘This is a great moment for Singapore and an even greater moment for Daryl Tan. We are right behind him as he heads into the semi-final and we salute his achievement in getting Singapore our first medal in YOG.

‘He has shown that anything is possible, even for our small country. Our investment in youth development is starting to bear fruit and we hope Daryl will be an example to all our other athletes. We didn’t expect to win a taekwondo medal but it truly is a wonderful surprise.’

Daryl will now face pre-tournament favourite and world junior champion Kaveh Rezaei, 17, in the semis. And despite the enormity of the task ahead of him, he is unfazed.

‘I will approach my next match just like my last – with the aim of going for the gold,’ he said.

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Update: It is confirmed — Daryl has won a bronze medal. He lost 0-12 to Iran’s Kaveh Rezaei in the semi-finals.