'Embracing the pressure': Singapore's Shanti Pereira confident and ready for Asian Games, says coach

Pereira is the reigning Asian Games champion in the women's 200m.

File photo of Shanti Pereira. (Photo: Commonwealth Games Singapore/Lim Weixiang)

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SINGAPORE: Three years after her historic 200m Asian Games gold, Singapore sprinter Shanti Pereira is no longer the one doing the hunting – this time around, she will be the hunted.

But her long-time coach Luis Cunha told CNA that the 29-year-old is ready, adding that the goal is for Pereira to fight for medals at the upcoming Asian Games from Sep 19 to Oct 4.

“The idea for this season was to prepare for the Asian Games. We didn’t start the way we expected because she had a small injury,” he added.

“But the idea was … to be one week from (the competition) with the feeling that she can fight for medals.”

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less Pereira has been in fine form recently. Last month, she made history by becoming the first Singaporean to qualify for an individual sprint final at the Commonwealth Games. She timed a season-best of 22.81s in the 200m semi-finals before finishing eighth in the final. Pereira also qualified for the 100m semi-finals at the Glasgow Games with a time of 11.24s, her fastest of the season. The Singaporean was just 0.04 seconds off her national mark of 11.20s, set at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships.

Pereira has been in fine form recently.

Last month, she made history by becoming the first Singaporean to qualify for an individual sprint final at the Commonwealth Games. She timed a season-best of 22.81s in the 200m semi-finals before finishing eighth in the final.

Pereira also qualified for the 100m semi-finals at the Glasgow Games with a time of 11.24s, her fastest of the season. The Singaporean was just 0.04 seconds off her national mark of 11.20s, set at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships.

After the Commonwealth Games, Pereira has raced at meets in the UK, Poland and Oman. She finished on the podium at all three meets in the 200m, setting a new season’s best of 22.78s in Oman.

“She’s healthy, she's confident, mainly because of the results of the competitions. Let's hope that she enjoys this last part of the journey,” said Cunha, who added that Pereira has "something more in the tank" to go under 22.78s.

“She wants to win the 200m (at the Asian Games), of course. She wants to give joy to Singaporeans.”

Pereira is set to face stiff competition at the Games. In the 100m, four Asian women have clocked faster times than the Singaporean this year. This includes 17-year-old Chinese sprinter Chen Yujie, who timed 11.08s last month.

In the 200m, Pereira's 22.78s is the best time in Asia this year, with Japan's Abigeirufuka Ido clocking 22.81s last month, and Chen timing 22.84s.

But it is not all about the numbers and anything can happen, said Cunha. He pointed out how Pereira recently beat Dominican Republic's Liranyi Alonso, a sprinter who has a faster personal best than her.

"Nothing is guaranteed," said Cunha, who has worked with the sprinter since 2020.

"HUNGRY TO EARN MORE"

2023 was a breakthrough year for Pereira. She became the first Singaporean woman to win both the 100m and 200m events at the same edition of the SEA Games; and she followed that up with a sprint double at the Asian Athletics Championships in July .

While she entered the Asian Games that year in good form, there was less weight on her shoulders. No Singaporean had won an athletics gold since 1974, and expectations were different.

“It's easier for an athlete to be an underdog, and in 2023 she was the underdog,” said Cunha.

In Hangzhou, Pereira delivered, storming to victory in the 200m and clinching silver in the 100m.

File photo of Luis Cunha and Shanti Pereira. (Photo: CNA/Marcus Mark Ramos)

But the hard part comes after the win, added the Portuguese coach, a former sprinter who competed at the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympics.

“I remember in my case, my last five or six years, I was trying to not to lose. And then I realised, you don’t enjoy your journey when you have this kind of approach - (when you) want to not lose instead of wanting to win,” he said.

In the case of Pereira, she is at the stage where she is “hungry to earn more things”, Cunha said. “She's embracing the pressure, and she wants this pressure," he added.

Pereira is now a more mature athlete and realises the impact she can have on the public, said her coach.

"She's different, but in a good way. She lives with this extra attention in a very positive way," said Cunha. "She's really an example of winning well, that's pretty much what we want to expect from a champion."

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佩雷拉是现任亚运会女子200米冠军。

Shanti Pereira 的资料照片。（图片：新加坡英联邦运动会/林伟祥）

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新加坡：在新加坡短跑运动员珊蒂·佩雷拉 (Shanti Pereira) 历史性地获得亚运会女子200米金牌三年后，她不再是追逐目标的人——这一次，她将成为被追逐的对象。

但她的长期教练路易斯·库尼亚告诉CNA，这位29岁的选手已经准备好了，并补充说，目标是让佩雷拉在即将于9月19日至10月4日举行的亚运会上争夺奖牌。

“我们本赛季的目标是备战亚运会。但由于她受了点小伤，我们的开局并不顺利，”他补充道。

“但我们的想法是……在比赛前一周，让她感觉自己可以去争夺奖牌。”

CNA游戏 猜词游戏 逐行破解单词 流行词游戏 用给定的字母组成单词 迷你数独 小谜题，脑力挑战 迷你填字游戏 小方格，大挑战 单词搜索 尽可能多地找出单词 显示更多 显示更少 佩雷拉最近状态极佳。上个月，她创造了历史，成为首位晋级英联邦运动会个人短跑决赛的新加坡运动员。她在200米半决赛中跑出了22.81秒的赛季最佳成绩，最终在决赛中获得第八名。佩雷拉还在格拉斯哥运动会100米比赛中以11.24秒的成绩晋级半决赛，这也是她本赛季的最快成绩。这位新加坡选手仅比她在2023年亚洲田径锦标赛上创造的11.20秒的全国纪录慢了0.04秒。

佩雷拉最近状态极佳。

上个月，她创造了历史，成为首位晋级英联邦运动会个人短跑决赛的新加坡选手。她在200米半决赛中跑出了22.81秒的赛季最佳成绩，最终在决赛中获得第八名。

佩雷拉在格拉斯哥奥运会女子100米比赛中以11.24秒的成绩晋级半决赛，这是她本赛季的最快成绩。这位新加坡选手距离她在2023年亚洲田径锦标赛上创造的11.20秒的全国纪录仅差0.04秒。

英联邦运动会结束后，佩雷拉参加了在英国、波兰和阿曼举行的比赛。她在三场比赛的200米项目中均登上领奖台，并在阿曼创造了22.78秒的赛季新最佳成绩。

“她身体健康，信心十足，这主要是因为比赛成绩。希望她能享受这段旅程的最后阶段，”库尼亚说道，并补充说佩雷拉还有“余力”跑进22.78秒以内。

“她当然想赢得亚运会200米冠军。她想给新加坡人民带来快乐。”

佩雷拉将在奥运会上面临激烈的竞争。今年，已有四位亚洲女子100米选手跑出了比这位新加坡选手更快的成绩。其中包括17岁的中国短跑运动员陈宇洁，她上个月跑出了11.08秒的成绩。

在 200 米比赛中，佩雷拉的 22.78 秒是今年亚洲的最佳成绩，日本选手井户阿比吉鲁富卡上个月跑出了 22.81 秒的成绩，陈的成绩为 22.84 秒。

但库尼亚表示，这并非完全取决于数字，任何事情都有可能发生。他指出，佩雷拉最近击败了多米尼加共和国的短跑运动员利拉尼·阿隆索，而阿隆索的个人最好成绩比佩雷拉更快。

“没有什么是绝对有保证的，”库尼亚说道，他从 2020 年起就与这位短跑运动员合作。

“渴望赚更多钱”

2023年是佩雷拉的突破之年。她成为首位在同一届东南亚运动会上包揽100米和200米两项冠军的新加坡女子运动员；随后，她又在7月份的亚洲田径锦标赛上斩获短跑双冠。

尽管她当年以良好的状态参加了亚运会，但她肩上的压力却小了很多。自1974年以来，新加坡就再也没有获得过田径金牌，人们对她的期望也与以往不同。

“对于运动员来说，做个不被看好的人更容易成功，而2023年她就是个不被看好的人，”库尼亚说道。

在杭州，佩雷拉不负众望，在200米比赛中强势夺冠，并在100米比赛中摘得银牌。

路易斯·库尼亚和珊蒂·佩雷拉的资料照片。（图片：CNA/马库斯·马克·拉莫斯）

但这位葡萄牙教练补充说，最难的部分是在胜利之后。这位教练曾是一名短跑运动员，参加过 1988 年、1992 年和 1996 年奥运会。

“我记得在过去的五六年里，我一直努力避免失败。后来我意识到，如果你抱着这种心态——只想着不输而不是想着赢——你就无法享受过程，”他说。

库尼亚说，佩雷拉现在正处于“渴望获得更多”的阶段。“她乐于接受压力，而且她渴望这种压力，”他补充道。

佩雷拉的教练说，佩雷拉现在是一名更加成熟的运动员，她意识到自己能对公众产生的影响。

“她与众不同，但这是好事。她以非常积极的态度面对这份额外的关注，”库尼亚说。“她真正展现了如何赢得漂亮，这正是我们对冠军的期望。”

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