Nurul Shafinas Bte Abdul Rahman almost did one better than her teammate, YOG bronze medalist Daryl Tan, when she narrowly lost to her Vietnamese opponent in the semi-final of the 2010 YOG taekwondo event on 17 August 2010 at the Suntec International Convention Centre.
In a match that drew raucous support from the crowd including Shafinas’ parents and brother, she dug deep into her bags of tricks to claw back from 3-9 to 8-9. Unfortunately time did not allow her to do more and she had to settle with another bronze.
Nevertheless, she still did taekwondo proud by winning Singapore’s second medal for the Games.
STF President, Mr Milan Kwee, was jubilant. He said: “We take our hats off to not only our YOG medalists but also our other players. They had sacrificed a lot to bring honour to Singapore. To us, they are all winners – medalists or not.
“For example, Nur Zakirah Bte Zakaria neither compromised her religion nor her sport. She fasted as required by all Muslims during the period and fought with guts and determination.
“It has been hard work for everyone in taekwondo to bring our players to this level. We can succeed because we work together to achieve our mission and vision and have the support from many friends of taekwondo.
“The STF is certainly moving in the right direction.”