SINGAPORE – National rower Saiyidah Aisyah Mohamed Rafa’ee’s bid to qualify for the Rio Olympic Games remains on track after the 28-year-old earned a spot in tomorrow’s (April 25) women’s 2,000m single sculls B final at the 2016 FISA Asia and Oceania Continental Olympic Qualification Regatta in Chung-ju, South Korea.

Aisyah finished fourth in her semi-final race this morning in a time of 8min 13.13sec - the eighth fastest qualifying time – to make the B final. Local favourite Kim Ye-Ji, who competed at the 2012 Olympics, clocked the fastest qualifying time of 7:57.64, with Vietnam’s three-time SEA Games gold medalist (2015) Hue Pham Thi and Huang Yi-Ting (Chinese Taipei) clocking the second and third fastest times respectively in 8:00.53 and 8:01.86.

The top three rowers from each of the two semi-finals will advance to the A Final, with the remaining six rowers to contest the B Final.

Tomorrow’s B Final will be Aisyah’s last chance to qualify for the Olympic Games – only the top seven rowers at the end of the regatta will earn their tickets to Rio. The national rower, who made history at the 2013 SEA Games when she won Singapore’s first rowing gold since 1997, will need to finish first among the six-strong B Final field to win an Olympic berth.