After a time penalty, SINGAPORE values them a podium finish at the ultimate year’s OCBC Cycle Speedway Southeast Asia Championship; Singapore captain Goh Choon Huat has vowed his group has learned from their mistake as they are seeking victory on Saturday (May eleven).
He said: “We’ve been reading the lines, so we might not make the same mistake. Myanmar gained because they did the handover slowly and effectively.
“In training, we tried to simulate the passing of the tags and to make certain we don’t pass the road.”
Each four-experience crew member is split into pairs, and each pair covers five laps on a flat 1km stretch alongside Stadium Drive.
Last year’s Singapore team had been judged to have crossed the finish line before delivering their tags to the following pair, resulting in a 20-second penalty. They finished fourth.
At Friday’s draw ceremony, the Republic was grouped with the Philippines, Laos, and debutants Vietnam for the qualifying rounds.
Defending champions Myanmar, Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia are in different groups.
The top two from every institution, plus the quickest final crew, improve to the semi-finals. This will be trimmed to four for the very last.
Goh, 29, stated: “The draw is hard, but Vietnam is a new group, so they’ll no longer be acquainted with the rule of thumb, which may be an advantage to us.
“I suppose best the handover part can also carry us down, so we simply should stay calm and do that properly.”
The Filipinos, the ultimate 12-month runners-up, have also decided to reclaim the name they received in 2017.
In the last 12 months, they incurred a ten-2d penalty for an infringement during the handover, which allowed Myanmar to snatch victory.
Philippines captain Mier John Renee Sadaya stated, ” There is no room for error. The group is sturdy, and we are confident of triumphing.”
For the first time in the Speedway Club Championship, two all-women squads—the Anza Cycling Women’s Team and the Fahrenheit Performance Development Team—collaborated.
Anza Cycling captain Stephanie Lim stated, “Cycling has usually been a more male-ruled game. We need to show that women’s participation is on the rise, encourage more to do so, and maybe have a ladies’ class in the future.
“The race is going to be hard. However, we’ve been working on our handovers and corners. We will try very hard to stick with the peloton to be simpler and have a hit race.”
The Speedway Corporate Championship may even take place at the Singapore Sports Hub on Saturday, while the mass participation Thin e Sportive Ride (42km) and The Straits Times Ride (23km) can be held on Sunday.
