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Grandmother, 76, Wins Silver at Southeast Asian Games
May Chen - Straits Times Indonesia | November 16, 2011

Contract bridge player Ng Lai Chun won two silvers at the 26th Southeast Asian Games, in the women Contract bridge player Ng Lai Chun won two silvers at the 26th Southeast Asian Games, in the women's butler pairs and women's team events. (Straits Times Indonesia Photo)
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Comments

DrDez
2:03pm Nov 18, 2011

good job young lady ....

stewy
1:46pm Nov 18, 2011

Go granny!! just goes to show your never to old..

BilboBaggins
9:34pm Nov 16, 2011

"Singapore’s oldest athlete at the biennial event"

Playing Bridge does NOT make you an athlete, although many Indonesian children seem to think watching TV is a hobby or sport.

blightyboy
2:42pm Nov 16, 2011

Is bridge a sport? Hey, but well done girl.

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Palembang. She is a retired teacher, a grandmother of five and, at 76 years of age, is older than the Southeast Games itself. But Ng Lai Chun — Singapore’s oldest athlete at the biennial event — is also a double games silver medallist.

Ng, believed to be the oldest medallist so far in Indonesia, was part of the six-member contract bridge team that finished runners-up to the hosts in the women’s team event yesterday at the Jayakarta Hotel.

She also partnered Tan Sock Ngin, 33, and picked up a silver in the women’s butler pairs event earlier on Monday.

The retiree will not be getting any prize money as the Singapore National Olympic Council’s Multi-million Dollar Awards Program only awards gold medallists at the SEA Games.

Ng, who has been playing contract bridge — a card game played by four players on two opposing teams — for close to 40 years, said, “Look at the other athletes, they are all young ones.”

“I’m very thrilled that at my age I can still do something and win medals for the country,” added the retiree, who plays bridge three times a week.

But with no physical exertion, does the game, which is making its debut at the SEA Games, qualify as a sport?

Singapore team manager Zhang Yukun said: “It’s definitely not your typical sport, but playing bridge requires prolonged concentration and focus.

“There are many people who consider chess a sport, and we are similar to chess. The only difference is in bridge you team up with someone.

“If chess is considered a sport, then why not bridge?”

Stamina is a must for a game like contract bridge, where play can go on for as many as eight hours a day, he added.

Ng, for instance, jogs for 45 minutes every day to stay fit.

“Bridge is a very taxing game, even for the young ones,” said Ng, whose fascination with card games started when she saw her grandmother playing them.

“Bridge is easy to learn, but very difficult to master. You’re not playing on your own and you have to coordinate and work with a partner. It’s very challenging,” she said.

As the ambassador for the Singapore Contract Bridge Association, she hopes that contract bridge will continue to be included at the biennial event.

Ng said: “I hope that contract bridge will be contested in future Games and also when Singapore hosts it in 2015.

“Hopefully, I will still be able to take part.”

Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times Indonesia. To subscribe to Straits Times Indonesia and/or the Jakarta Globe call 021 2553 5055.