Norashikin (left) and Nuraisyah had only one month of training together, but they managed to bring back the gold medal in the women's 470 sailing event. - FAIHAN GHANI / The Star
SINGAPORE: Sailors Nuraisyah Jamil-Norashikin Mohamad Sayed steer themselves to the gold medal in the women’s 470 event at the Singapore SEA Games.
They trained together for only one month and bonded over a South Korean reality show – Running Man.
But that was enough to gel them together.
The 22-year-old Norashikin, who is Nuraisyah’s senior at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Arau, said “we badly wanted to win the gold medal in our second Games outing”.
“We were just paired up last December, so we were not really that close ... plus, we are of different age and with different interests,” said Norashikin.
“The only thing we have in common is Running Man. Watching the show was our main activity when we trained for a month in Greece before the Games. That brought us a closer and improved our communication.
“We have been with the national sailing team for some time. We know each other’s task during races and we try our best to make sure we do as perfect a job as possible.”
The duo easily picked up the gold in the medal race following a dominant seven series of racing after a poor start in the first two races.
The pair collected 16 points to finish ahead of silver medallists Panida Suksomporn-Narisara Yu-Sawat, who collected 21 points. Singapore’s Savannah Siew Kiah Hui-Amanda Ng Ling Kai were third with 29 points but were not awarded the bronze medal as only three teams competed in the event.
Skipper Nuraisyah, 18, admitted that it was plain sailing for the gold, despite the early hiccup.
“It was a comfortable race for us. The plan was to start strong and maintain the lead from there,” she said.
“We finished second and third on the first day but we managed to bounce back from the setback. I’m so glad everything worked out well for us.”
The Star Online
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