BATCHELOR FINDS HIS MATCH TO COMPETE

Several good Samaritans raise $6,500 for wakeboarder to go to Beijing world c’ships

- Melvyn Teoh

Despite qualifying for the World Cable Wakeboard and Wakeskate Championships, Singaporean Clarence Batchelor thought he would not be able to compete at the Aug 8-15 event in Beijing.

Not for the first time, the 23-year-old wakeboarder found himself unable to go for overseas competitions as he could not afford the travelling expenses.

Since his father died of a heart attack in 2021, Batchelor and his two siblings have had to work to support the family financially.

But thanks to some good Samaritans, Batchelor will be on the flight to China with his seven teammates after all.

With less than a week to the June 30 registration deadline, a teammate’s mother had related his predicament to a friend, Chan Chen Hern.

Chan, 50, a director in the maritime industry, decided to start a fund-raising campaign for the athlete.

After sending texts to his friends, some of whom are former wakeboarders, it took Chan only two days to raise $6,500 for Batchelor’s travel expenses.

“At first I said, ‘don’t need to’, because I didn’t want to disappoint anybody,” said a grateful Batchelor at the Singapore Wake Park on July 2, when some of the donors turned up to wish him good luck for the competition.