Koh Seng Leong

Joseph Koh Seng Leong (born 19 September 1983) is a Singaporean former sailor, who specialized in the Laser and 470 classes.[1] He represented Singapore across two editions of the Summer Olympic Games (2000 and 2008), finishing outside the top twenty-five each in two separate boats, respectively. Outside Olympic career, Koh collected a total of two medals in a continental regatta, spanning the 2006 Asian Games in Doha and the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Nakhon Ratchasima.[2][3] Koh trained throughout his sporting career at SAF Yachting Club in Changi, under the tutelage of his personal coach Brett Beyer, a six-time Laser Apprentice Master world champion from Australia.[4]

Koh Seng Leong
Personal information
Full nameJoseph Koh Seng Leong
Nationality Singapore
Born (1983-09-19) 19 September 1983
Singapore
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Weight71 kg (157 lb)
Sailing career
Class(es)Dinghy
ClubSAF Yachting Club
CoachBrett Beyer (AUS)
Medal record
Men's sailing
Representing Singapore
Asian Games
2006 Doha Laser Radial
Southeast Asian Games
2007 Bangkok Laser
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Koh.

At the age of 16, Koh became the youngest sailor to compete in Sydney 2000. There, he and his partner Tan Wearn Haw finished twenty-eighth in the men's 470 class with a net grade of 192, sparing them from the back of the fleet by a twelve-point edge over the Hungarian duo of Marcell Goszleth and Ádám Szőrényi.[5] Switching to a single-handed dinghy, Koh sought to bid in the open Laser for Athens 2004, but he lost the selection to two-time Olympian Stanley Tan. In 2005, Koh had his left hand fractured in a freak motorbike accident, impelling him to sail a boat in the forthcoming regattas with a modified technique.[6]

Eight years after competing in his maiden Games, Koh qualified for his second Singaporean team, as a 24-year-old, in the Laser class at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He finished twenty-third out of 52 sailors in the silver fleet to lock one of the ten quota places available at the Worlds six months earlier in Terrigal, New South Wales.[6][7] Koh stayed in the middle of the fleet throughout the series, until he chased harder to finish third on the penultimate leg by a few marks ahead of Poland's Maciej Grabowski. Koh's best result, however, was not enough to reach the top of the overall scoreboard, sitting him in thirty-sixth with 239 net points.[8]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Koh Seng Leong". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  2. "Romzi gives hope for first Asiad medal". The Star. 6 January 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  3. "Medals Decided In Mistral and Laser". World Sailing. 13 December 2006. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  4. "Seng Leong Koh: Back On Course". World Sailing. 1 August 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  5. "Sydney 2000: Sailing – Men's 470 Class". Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 77–78. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  6. Tan, Yo-Hinn (14 February 2008). "Koh gets it right" (PDF). Singapore Management University. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  7. Lin, Xin Yi (27 June 2008). "Koh siblings among four off to Beijing" (PDF). Singapore Management University. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  8. "Beijing 2008: Men's Laser Class". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
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