Contributed by Ashish Mathews, Co–Convener for Cross–Country, Bar Council Sports Committee; with photos by Florence Laway, Senior Administrative Assistant, Bar Council
The 50th edition of the Bench and Bar Games between the Malaysian Bar and the Law Society of Singapore (“LSS”) was held in Singapore from 27 April to 29 April 2019, with the cross–country race taking place on the morning of the 29th. Unusually, cross–country was scheduled for the final day of the Games, a pleasant change resulting in a higher than average representation of cross–country runners at the closing gala dinner.
Flashback to the months leading up to the Games, the team was in a good rhythm with a consistently high attendance for training (which was increased to twice a week in the closing weeks) despite the loss of the services of our coach and the last minute blow of losing two of our top five male runners to injury and clashing commitments. Needless to say, this team has developed into a family, coach or not; training did not stop and attendance did not drop.
In terms of the race course, Singapore opened talks clearly wanting an end to the elevation wars of the previous three years with every venue suggested being as flat as a pancake. Unfortunately, this was the limits of clarity on the part of the LSS Conveners with the course being changed a number of times prior to the event.
The morning of the race was wet and dreary, but not stormy in any sense of the word. However, in true Singaporean fashion, a cancellation of the event was considered by the LSS Conveners, “This is Category 1 already, maybe should cancel.”
“Tis only a drizzle”, responded Lilian Lee Lin Lin (maybe not quite in those words) with clear resolve that the event continue as planned.
Whilst the Malaysian Conveners were frantically trying to figure out the start time, the Malaysian team, true to form, commenced its warm up without anyone uttering a word. Within a minute of the first runner commencing his warm up, the entire team was engaged in an almost coordinated warm–up. The warm–up session ended with a coordinated stretch lead by our doyen, Yau Yee Ming.
Finally, about 30 minutes after the race was supposed to have started (in true LSS cross–country fashion), we were ushered to the starting line by our hosts. The briefing commenced whilst the front runners jostled for the rather limited space available at the starting line.
The race started soon after with the front pack deciding that staying within sight would be cliché; promptly disappearing into the wind. The front runner was, as usual, LSS’s resident powerhouse Devathas Satianathan, but for a second year running, he was shadowed by Malaysia’s Barry Boey Chee Wai. It must be appreciated that both runners competed at a truly astonishing level and we look forward to the continuance of this rivalry for years to come.
Malaysia’s resident superhumans, Michelle Tan Bee Kiang and Eunice Ong Huey Shen kept up the entire way with a SEA games runner finishing four and six seconds behind her, respectively. The level these ladies operate at cannot be emphasised enough; these are true elites!
At the end of the day, despite a dominant performance by the women of the Malaysian Bar, we just fell short of the mark. Our men, despite a valiant effort, tasted defeat at the hands of true speedsters, and have vowed to come back stronger.
Overall, a disappointing finish with a silver lining; the team is actively growing with new recruits showing more than just potential, they have desire. We’ll be back next year, and we won’t lose.