Skaters unbowed by uphill battle

Not the hot and humid weather, not the lack of facilities, and definitely not the gap between them and the world's best — nothing stops Singapore's young skaters from pursuing a career that holds only the smallest chance of success.

Though standing far behind the sport's powerhouses, at least for now, a fact underlined by their lack of medals at the Winter Asiad in Harbin, Singapore's short-track speed skating team remains upbeat and serious about its mission — trying to put the tropical nation on the sport's map — even against the greatest odds.

None of its four skaters made it into the final A race in any of the events in Harbin after they overcame enormous challenges, including the closure of their training base and Singapore's only Olympic-sized ice rink, to make their debut at the continental winter sports gala.

Their effort, though, was undeniable, as well as their progress on the ice.

"I think I held out pretty well. I could have done better, but I think I'm quite satisfied with my results," Alyssa Pok, Singapore's best-performing female in Harbin, told Winter Asiad after making it into the 1,000m final B on Sunday.

"I think it's pretty amazing. It's my first time at the Asian Games. To be competing with the high-level skaters, I think it's a good experience.

"And I think, also, it kind of inspired, and showed me how much further I have to go to be able to compete with them and be at their level," said the 20-year-old who raced in all three individual events and the 2,000m mixed relay in Harbin.

Her younger brother Brandon Pok was also the team's busiest men's skater, suiting up for Singapore in all individual events and the mixed relay.

He advanced into Saturday's 1,500m final B, where he edged out more experienced opponents from Hong Kong, China and Kazakhstan to finish fourth in the seven-skater field.

"I think I exceeded our expectations in this competition," said Brandon, who also helped Team Singapore, alongside his sister, reach the final B race of the mixed relay on Friday.

"It's not my first time racing against such powerhouse athletes, but it's always a very refreshing experience. To race against the best is the best way to learn from them," said the 18-year-old, who was brought to an ice rink for the first time at age 7 with his sister Alyssa.

The adrenaline-fueled nature of short-track, demonstrated alongside figure skating and ice hockey during that first visit to the rink at the JCube shopping mall, quickly grew on Alyssa, who asked her parents to sign her up to a junior program right away, and persuaded her brother to join her.