SINGAPORE, June 11 — Boxers Mohamed Hanurdeen Hamid and Tay Jia Wei may not have ended Singapore’s long wait for its first boxing gold medal at the SEA Games since Mohammed Mukhlis triumphed in 1985, but their silver medals yesterday (June 10) was the Republic’s best result in the sport since 1993.

Hanurdeen, 21, lost to Ian Clark Bautista of the Philippines 2-1 in the men’s flyweight (52kg) final, whilst team-mate Tay, 19, suffered a knock-out to Filipino Felix Eumir Marcial in the men’s welterweight (69kg) title bout on the final day of the SEA Games boxing competition at the Singapore EXPO yesterday.

Despite missing out on the gold, the potential shown by Hanurdeen and Tay — he fought just 19 times before this SEA Games — prompted Singapore national coach David Alexis to believe the result was a good indication of the sport’s growth here.

“Hanurdeen did particularly well ... it was unlucky for Jia Wei who was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Alexis. “Despite what happened, they all performed really well. We have to move on as if we have few more competitions coming up. It will be an upwards spiral from now on.”

It was Singapore’s best result in boxing at the SEA Games since Sevakumaran Pakakrishna’s silver in the men’s 45kg category in 1993.

“I just think that nothing is impossible, to win the silver medal is not easy especially in my category where there are many good boxers with a lot of experience,” said Hanurdeen.

“To be a No 2 out of the all the boxers in the category is a big thing ... the SEA Games comprises only 11 countries but some of these countries have world rankings, like the Philippines, Thailand. With further practise, I will become better.”

Hanurdeen went into the fight against Clark with a swollen left eye — courtesy of a head butt by Myanmar’s Maung Nge in their semi-final bout — but despite his limited field of vision, the Singaporean lasted all three bouts before losing to a split decision.

“He was aggressive and kept coming for my left eye, knowing it was injured. I couldn’t see anything at all because my vision was blurred,” said Hanurdeen, who went against his doctor’s orders to compete.

“For the second and third round, I fought with only one eye.

“But it is not an excuse. I really wanted the gold. No one likes to win the silver. He (Bautista) knew I had an injury to my left eye and kept coming for me since round one.”

Tay, 19, was also visibly upset with his KO defeat to former 2011 world junior champion Marcial.

“He caught me with one hand and he landed one good shot, and that’s it,” said a tearful Tay. “I am not satisfied with the silver because I wanted to win the gold medal really badly. I am just disappointed with myself that it ended in the second round.” ― Today