Ang Chen Xiang aces S’pore Open hurdles test with national record (2025)

SINGAPORE – Despite having to log on for night tutorials to prepare for his specialist exams, national hurdler Ang Chen Xiang aced his test on the track on April 24.

He clocked 13.80sec to lower the national record again in winning the Singapore Open Track and Field Championships’ 110m hurdles final at the National Stadium.

In the process, he sliced 0.01sec off his previous mark set at the Hong Kong Athletics Series 2 meet on March 29.

Following his win, the 30-year-old told The Straits Times: “I’m used to working and training. Having the tutorial before competition did take some of the pressure off, so I don’t mind it.”

The National University Hospital paediatric resident has been used to starting his day at 6am and sleeping at 11pm, using the time to juggle his medical and sporting pursuits.

Notably, he was Singapore’s first SEA Games 110m hurdles champion in 56 years when he was awarded joint gold with Thailand’s Natthaphon Dansungnoen at the 2023 Games in Cambodia.

On April 24, he was the clear winner, with Hong Kong’s Liu Hiu Long (13.83) and Cheung Siu Hang (13.96) completing the podium, while 19-year-old Singaporeans Lucas Fun (15.19) and Raqib Razak (15.86) were seventh and eighth respectively.

Visibly pleased with his performance, Ang, who is coached by his younger brother Ding Hui, said: “The first barometer I use to measure my performance is my technical execution, and I think it was generally there.

“There were some mistakes made, but nothing too big. These things are easy to clean up and work on, so I’m happy that what my coach and I have been working on I managed to produce on the track today.”

The recent results have also given him the confidence that he can perform well at the May 27-31 Asian Athletics Championships in South Korea, and retain gold at the Dec 9-20 SEA Games in Thailand.

Thanking his employers for allowing him leave of absence to train and compete, he said: “My coach and I don’t usually set timing targets, because the times are a result of the execution.

“So for the Asian Championships, we aim to do exactly what we have done today, polish and execute it with 100 per cent accuracy.

“It would be a nice cherry on top of the cake if I can retain my (SEA Games) gold medal. But there is no promise of that – I could run a 13.50 and come in last. What I can control is my technical execution, and so that’s what we will always focus on.”

Also in control were Singapore’s fastest man and woman – Marc Louis and Shanti Pereira – who won their respective 100m finals.

Louis, who holds the national record of 10.27, finished first in 10.49 to fend off Thai duo Thawatchai Himaiad (10.52) and SEA Games champion Soraoat Dapbang (10.70), while Singaporean Xander Ho was sixth in 10.84.

Louis, 22, was pleased with his first 100m final of the season after having improved the men’s indoor 60m national record to 6.68 in March. He is training full time after completing national service in 2024 and can now focus on getting faster.

Meanwhile, the 28-year-old Pereira won her first race at the National Stadium in two years in 11.45, beating Chinese Taipei’s Hu Chia-chen (11.67) and Singaporean Elizabeth-Ann Tan (11.73).

Pereira, whose national record is 11.20, said: “I started my season doing 11.5, 11.6, so I was really pushing for a sub-11.5.

“I’m very happy with today’s result because it was something I was chasing. I think I’m getting the hang of things again and things are starting to click.”

There was drama towards the end of the meet’s first day when Reuben Lee was deemed to have committed a false start in the men’s 400m final and was initially prevented from running under protest.

However, a green card was shown to indicate that there was a technical issue and no athlete was at fault.

Lee was reinstated to the starting line-up and kept his cool to win in 47.85, with Indonesia’s Maulana Ismail (48.64) and Singaporean Zubin Muncherji (48.91) rounding up the top three.

• David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.

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