By Leonard Lim
Sports Reporter
leonard1@sph.com.sg

 

OUTSTANDING sporting performances, heart-warming scenes, candid moments and organisational boo-boos - the inaugural Asian Youth Games had it all.

Taiwanese pole vaulter Chi Chien-hao bagged a silver medal at the AYG.
ST Photo: Desmond Wee

The athletes were aged between 14 and 17, but the standard of competition was high, especially in football, diving, swimming and table tennis.

And several among the 1,300 teenagers are set to be the continent's future sporting luminaries.

Swimmers Quah Ting Wen and Chang Gyu Cheol were both named the Games' Most Valuable Player after both won four gold medals each in the pool.

Quah Ting Wen (first from left) was named one of the Most Valuable Player at the Games.
ST Photo: Albert Sim

South Korean footballer Suh Myeong Won also stood out with his tricky footwork.

The forward joined the youth set-up at English Premier League side Portsmouth three months ago, and has all the makings of the next Park Ji Sung.

The two Koreas were involved in one of the Games' special moments, and a classic example of how sports' can play a uniting role in society.

Both North and South Korea featured in the football final - the South won, for the record - and the game was played in good spirit despite the political overtones.

South Korean footballers playing foosball at the Swissotel The Stamford, the official Games Village.
ST Photo: Albert Sim

And after the medal presentations, the teenagers, arms draped around each other, chatted and joked like old friends.

Such friendships were forged between athletes from the 43 participating countries, both through sporting competition and through the AYG's culture and education component, where they learnt about the traditions of other nations.

To be sure, the Games' were also blighted by hiccups.

Several venues were less than half full, with the lack of pre-Games publicity by organisers cited as a reason.

Television schedules were also changed at the last minute, leaving many Singaporeans frustrated. Some even wrote to the forum page of this newspaper.

But these will be good learning points for the organisers of next year's Youth Olympic Games, when the entire world will be watching Singapore.

Victorious Thai beach volleyball teams posed with AYG volunteers.
ST Photo: Lin Sin Thai