Games-Former junior tennis star strikes gold at SEA Games

By Julian Linden SINGAPORE, June 14 (Reuters) - Thailand's Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, who was once rated the world's best junior female tennis player, collected her third gold medal at the 28th Southeast Asian Games on Sunday. The 23-year-old followed up her wins in the singles and women's team event by winning the doubles on Sunday, completing a golden treble she hopes will kick-start her faltering career. Noppawan became the first Thai tennis player to be ranked number one in the world when she won the Wimbledon junior singles title in 2009 but was unable to maintain her form in the senior ranks. She got to 149 in singles but currently sits at 412 and her goal is to get into top 200. "I'm coming back from the injury, and I'm getting a little bit more match play," she told the Bangkok Post. "The SEA Games experience will help my progress as I've had a lot of good matches in singles and doubles, and I've learned to focus on myself instead of thinking too much about my opponent." Pint-sized Malaysian compound archer Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Saleh, who had tried and failed for almost a decade to win a gold medal at the SEA Games, also ended a frustrating run as she scooped up three golds in less than five hours on a hectic day of action. A total of 49 gold medals were handed out in Singapore as the Games draw to a close on Tuesday and the 24-year-old Fatin bagged three on her own. "Today is certainly the happiest day of my life," she told reporters. "After four Games appearances, I finally won not only one, but three golds." The 24-year-old Fatin, who stands 1.48 metres tall and weighs just 48 kilograms, kicked off her golden treble by helping Malaysia win the women's team event just before lunchtime. With no time to celebrate, she was back on the range for the mixed team title, and won a second gold at a windy Kallang Cricket Field. Then she returned a third time to win the individual crown, coming from behind to narrowly beat Amaya Paz-Cojuangco of the Philippines, hitting the 10-point centre target five times in the final. Held every two years since 1959, the SEA Games feature a rich mixture of sports and Sunday's action included several that keep faith with the region's eclectic sporting interests. Malaysia's ex-Formula One driver Alex Yoong won a silver and bronze in water skiing, a sport he competed in as a young child before taking to motor racing. But the 38-year-old was outshone by his much younger siblings. His 11-year-old half-sister Aaliyah won the women's overall and tricks titles and took silver in the jump and his nine-year-old half-brother Aiden took bronze in the men's tricks. "It was always going to come second to motor racing," Alex told Reuters. "But now in my older age, motor racing doesn't motivate me to keep fit as it used to so I needed new challenges and that's why I came back to this." The host-nation Singapore won the men's and women's gold medals in floorball, a sport similar to hockey but played on a wooden surface with a plastic ball. With just two days of competition remaining, Thailand led the 11-nation medals standings with 87 golds, followed by Singapore (82), Vietnam (73) and Malaysia (59). (Reporting by Julian Linden, editing by Pritha Sarkar)