National record holder Calvin Cheng leapt his way to a silver in the Boys 18-19 Long Jump final at the Pacific School Games yesterday. The 18-year-old Auckland University of Technology (AUT) student and Singapore Sports School alumnus cleared 7.13m to finish second behind Thailand’s Nattapong Boonkerd who took the crown with his 7.40m effort. Even though Calvin’s best effort was 32cm short of his national record of 7.45m, the lanky teenager will still be pleased with his silver. Reason: Since his record-breaking leap at the 34th Singapore Junior Athletics Championships back in June, he had been experiencing a slump in form. His best result since then, and prior to yesterday, had been a 7.02m effort at the 70th Singapore Open Track and Field Championships in August. As such, the 7.13m that Calvin registered yesterday will definitely be a good psychological boost for him as he wraps up his competitive year and starts preparing for 2009. Boonkerd’s win, however, means that it is the second time in the Pacific School Games that he’s beaten a Singapore national record holder. On Wednesday, the Thai talent took the Boys 18-19 years Triple Jump with a Games record leap of 15.60m. National triple jump record holder Stefan Tseng finished second with 15.13m. Calvin’s silver was one of two that Singapore won on the last day of the Pacific School Games. The other was won by sprinter Balpreet Kaur in the Girls 18-19 years 100m. The 18-year-old AUT student clocked 12.34sec, about 0.11sec slower than the national junior record of 12.23sec which she set at the Malaysian Amateur Athletic Union Pre-Olympics Athletics Championships in Kuala Lumpur in July. Australian Melissa Breen took the gold in a new Games record of 11.35sec. It was her second record in the event. She had set a record in the heats with her 11.48sec effort. Yours in Sport This article can also be found here
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