30th SEA GAMES-SWIMMING: No three-peat for Joseph Schooling as he loses 100m freestyle crown to teen teammate Darren Chua

From left) Singapore’s Joseph Schooling and Darren Chua and Vietnam’s Hoang Quy Phuoc with their medals after the men’s 100m freestyle on Dec 8, 2019.PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

CLARK – On the hunt for a third consecutive gold in the men’s 100m freestyle, Singapore swim star Joseph Schooling was left disappointed on Sunday (Dec 8) as he was upset in the men’s 100m freestyle by younger teammate Darren Chua.

Singapore’s Joseph Schooling before the men’s 100m freestyle on Dec 8, 2019.PHOTO: LIANHE

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The 24-year-old clocked 49.64sec to finish second, with 19-year-old Chua taking the Philippines SEA Games gold in 49.59sec to add to his 200m freestyle title on Saturday.

Schooling, who won the gold in the blue-riband event in 2015 and 2017, had qualified third fastest in the morning’s heats in 50.37sec behind Gebbie Luke Michael of the Philippines (50.11sec) and Oo Win Htet (50.20sec).

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With the 100m free his last individual race, Rio Olympic 100m butterfly champion Schooling will compete in the men’s 4x100m medley on Monday in a bid to end his SEA Games campaign with four golds – which would be two fewer than the six he won in Kuala Lumpur two years ago.