Newsflash: Early exit for Stefan at World Juniors

National jumper Stefan Tseng suffered one of the biggest disappointments in his fledgling career when he failed to qualify for the triple jump final at the 12th IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, this morning ( about 4pm, Singapore time).

The national record holder finished last in the 13-strong qualifying field after recording a “No measure” in all three jumps. 

He overstepped the line on his first two attempts and then saw his World Junior Championships dreams come to an end when he lost his balance during his final attempt.

Six jumpers qualified in all: Henry Franye (Australia, 16.40m), Teddy Tanqho (France, 16.30m), Daniele Greco (Italy, 15.79m), Sheryf El-Sheryf (Ukraine, 15.67m), Christian Taylor (USA, 15.67m) and Jose Alfonso Palomanes (Spain, 15.58m).

One wonders whether the persistent pain in Stefan’s ankle (see previous post here), which had bothered him for two weeks after the Asian Junior Athletics Championships, had a part to play in his disappointing afternoon today.

It had affected his performance at the Bahaus Junioren Gala 2008 in Mannheim, Germany, on 21 June, causing him to only manage a distance of 15.20m, a far cry from the new national mark of 15.78m which he set at the Asian Juniors in Jakarta, the previous week.

Subsequently, the 17-year-old spent the next two weeks shrugging off the pain and doing only light training before finally resuming full training last weekend.  

However, every dark cloud has a silver lining and the Singapore Sports Fan feels that if there is one positive that Stefan can take back from his World Juniors experience, it is the indication that he has what it takes to jump 16m.

That sign was revealed on his first jump. Even though Stefan overstepped by a mere centimetre, he was able to hurl himself over the 16m mark.

Today’s result means that despite spending a month training in Frankfurt, Germany, as part of their final preparations for the World Juniors, both Stefan and Calvin Kang will now return to Singapore empty-handed. 

On Tuesday, national sprinter Calvin - who holds the national 100m junior record of 10.53sec - reached the 100m semi-finals after clocking 10.62sec in the heats. He finished joint-13th out of 24 qualifiers.

However, he failed to make the final-eight cut after finishing seventh in his semi-final in 10.75sec.

Calvin’s next major international assignment will be next month’s Beijing Olympics. He has been selected by the Singapore Athletics Association as a wildcard entry for the 100m.

Following that, he and Stefan will represent Singapore at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India, in October.

The Singapore Sports Fan hopes that the two young rising talents will grow stronger from their respective setbacks and that they will use this experience to spur themselves on to faster times and longer distances. 

Yours in sport

Singapore Sports Fan

Related links:

9 July: Newsflash – Calvin Kang qualifies for World Junior 100m semis

7 July: Newsflash – Silver and bronze for S’pore at Hong Kong meet

22 June: Newsflash – Calvin shows consistency, Stefan’s preparations take a small dent

20 June: Month-long German stint for World Juniors qualifiers Calvin and Stefan

14 June – Newsflash: Stefan shatters national jumps record at Asian Juniors

 

13 June – Newsflash: Calvin Kang rewrites national junior 100m mark

Newsflash: Calvin Kang fails to make 100m final

National sprinter Calvn Kang’s World Junior Athletics Championships journey came to an end early this morning when he finished joint-sixth in his semi-final in a disappointing time of 10.75sec.

The 18-year-old, who had qualified for the semis after finishing second in his heat and 13th overall with his time of 10.62sec yesterday afternoon (about 6pm, Singapore time) could not deliver the second time around when the semi-finals came a-calling seven hours later (about 1.15am this morning, Singapore time).

Calvin, who holds the national junior record of 10.53sec, was in the same semi-final race as Terell Wilks, the American sprinter who had clocked the fastest time of 10.28sec in the heats.

Wilks won the semi-final easily, finishing in 10.37sec while Sweden’s Benjamin Olsson was second in 10.57sec. Only the top eight fastest sprinters move on to tomorrow’s final.

The other qualifiers are Wilhelm van der Vyver (South Africa, 10.38sec), Dexter Lee (Jamaica, 10.42sec), Kemar Hyman (Canary Islands, 10.57sec), Shehan Abeypityage (Sri Lanka, 10.59sec), Yohan Blake ( Jamiaca, 10.42sec) and David Lescay (Cuba, 10.59sec).

Calvin’s next international assignment will be the Beijing Olympics. He is a wildcard entry in the 100m. 

Yours in sport

Singapore Sports Fan

Related links:

9 July: Newsflash – Calvin Kang qualifies for World Junior 100m semis

7 July: Newsflash – Silver and bronze for S’pore at Hong Kong meet

22 June: Newsflash – Calvin shows consistency, Stefan’s preparations take a small dent

20 June: Month-long German stint for World Juniors qualifiers Calvin and Stefan

14 June – Newsflash: Stefan shatters national jumps record at Asian Juniors

 

13 June – Newsflash: Calvin Kang rewrites national junior 100m mark

Newsflash: Calvin Kang qualifies for World Juniors 100m semis

National sprinter Calvin Kang got his World Junior Championships campaign off to a good start this afternoon in Bydgosczc, Poland, this afternoon (6pm Singapore time), as he clocked 10.62sec to finish second in his heat and qualify for the semi-finals.

The 18-year-old, who holds the national junior record of 10.53sec, finished behind American Terrell Wilks, who clocked 10.28sec to become the event’s fastest qualifier.

In all, 24 sprinters qualified for the semis which will be held later today (1am on 9 July, Singapore time). Calvin finished joint-13th with his time.

Realistically, while Calvin could still qualify for the final if he produces a scintillating run in the semis, a medal will probably be out of his reach.

The four fastest runners this afternoon were Terell Wilks (USA, 10.28sec), David Lescay (Cuba, 10.47sec), Antonio Sales (USA, 10.48sec) and Wilhelm van der Vyver (South Africa, 10.50sec), and their times are also below Calvin’s national junior mark of 10.53sec. 

Meanwhile, national triple jump record holder Stefan Tseng will only see action on Wednesday, 10 July. That is when the qualifying rounds for his event begins.

The 17-year-old will be looking to try to break his medal duck in a major international competition. Last year, Stefan finished fourth on countback at the World Youth Championships in the Czech Republic, a result which left him bitterly disappointed.

Last month, despite setting a new national record of 15.78m at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Jakarta, Stefan still missed out on the medals as he finished fourth.

The going in Bydgosczc may be tough for the teenager as he is a year younger than most of his fellow competitors. Also, he only resumed full training in Frankfurt last weekend after spending the previous two weeks shrugging off a persistent pain in his ankle.

The Singapore Sports Fan wishes both Calvin and Stefan all the best and hope they can return to Singapore with new personal bests and national records, if not medals.

Go fly our flag with pride, guys!

Yours in sport

Singapore Sports Fan

Related links:  

7 July: Newsflash – Silver and bronze for S’pore at Hong Kong meet

22 June: Newsflash – Calvin shows consistency, Stefan’s preparations take a small dent

20 June: Month-long German stint for World Juniors qualifiers Calvin and Stefan

14 June – Newsflash: Stefan shatters national jumps record at Asian Juniors

13 June – Newsflash: Calvin Kang rewrites national junior 100m mark