Singaporeans Liu and Cheng are new 420 World Champions

by Singapore Sailing on 1 Aug 2010 Singapore sailors Justin Liu (19) and Sherman Cheng (18) have just become the first SE Asian sailors to win the 2010 International 420 World Championship in Haifa, Israel. The Singaporean pair came in third in the 6-race qualifying series behind Greece and France to qualify in the Gold fleet, and have been maintaining the lead in the final series since Wednesday.

They finished the 11-race final series on top with a total of 36 points, 19 points ahead of their closest competitors, Italians Francesco Falcetelli and Gabriele Franciolini. Third place also went to Italy, Edoardo Mancinelli Scotti and Leonardo Cucchiara finished with 70 points in third place.

Dr Ben Tan, SingaporeSailing’s President and architect of the High Performance Strategic Plan, said, 'Justin and Sherman’s performance at the 420 Worlds, together with the earlier World titles that we have accumulated, is an affirmation of the systems that the High Performance Committee established in 2003. However, we will not rest - we will continue to improve our systems and processes to ensure that we make that leap from success at the youth level to Olympic level. Our immediate priority is to develop some more Justins and Shermans, so that our top sailors have quality sparring partners to spur each other on.' Dr Tan adds, 'Justin and Sherman take a professional approach to the sport, and I am proud of them for that. They certainly deserve this feather in their cap. I'm sure they will continue to deliver for Singapore.'

The 2010 International 420 World Championship is also one of the two selection events for nomination to the 2010 Asian Games. The first selection event, being the Kieler Woche regatta which took place in Germany in June, was won by Justin and Sherman where they beat 192 other pairs to win in the open division.

The overall performances of the Singapore sailors are as follows:

420 Open Division
Justin Liu & Sherman Cheng – first (Gold Fleet) 36 points
Ko Chuan Yang & Andrew Paul Chan – 12th (Silver Fleet) 131 points

420 Girls Division (after 10 races, the girls are still racing at time of release)
Rachel Lee & Cecilia Low – 19th (Gold Fleet) 142 points
Denise Lim & Benita Chua – 27th (Gold Fleet) 186 points
Griselda Khng & Sakina Bte Mohd Halim – 32nd (Gold Fleet) 227 points

Coach – Zhang Yong Qiang
Team Manager – Serena Wong

The sailors return to Singapore on Tuesday morning, 3 August on SQ 491 at 7.40am.

Full results: http://www.haifa420-worlds2010.com/

Roll of Honour – Singapore’s World Champions in Sailing
1. 2004 Byte World Championship – Open Division – Calvin Lim
2. 2005 ISAF Youth World Championship – 420 Boys – Teo Wee Chin and Terence Koh
3. 2006 Byte World Championship – Open Division – Nicholas de Cruz
4. 2006 Byte World Championship – Women’s Division – Elizabeth Yin
5. 2006 Laser 4.7 World Championship – Boys’ Division – Colin Cheng
6. 2006 Laser 4.7 World Championship – Girls’ Division – Victoria Chan
7. 2006 IODA Optimist World Championship – Girls’ Division – Griselda Khng
8. 2006 IODA Optimist World Championship – Team Racing – Griselda Khng, Sean Lee, Timothy Seet, Russell Kan & Rachel Lee
9. 2006 IODA Optimist World Championship – Miami Herald Trophy – Best Nation Trophy
10. 2007 Byte World Championship – Women’s Division – Valerie Chia
11. 2008 Laser 4.7 World Championship – Girls’ Division – Elizabeth Yin
12. 2008 IFDS Two Person Keelboat World Championship – Jovin Tan and Desiree Lim
13. 2009 Byte CII World Championship – Open Division – Darren Choy
14.2009 Byte CII World Championship – Girls’ Division – Najwa Jumali
15. 2009 ISAF Youth World Championship – Laser Radial Girls – Elizabeth Yin
16. 2010 Byte CII World Championship – Open Division – Darren Choy
17. 2010 420 World Championship – Open Division – Justin Liu and Sherman Cheng