YOG 2010: Oldham seals pommel silver in the Lion City

From Tom Reynolds, Sportsbeat, in Singapore

 SAM Oldham got straight back on the pommel horse at the Youth Olympic Games - and sealed a superb silver medal for his troubles in Singapore.

SILVER LINING: Sam Oldham cut a forlorn figure at the Youth Olympic Games on Wednesday but he bounced back with a bang on the pommel horse (Singapore Press Holdings)

The 17-year-old suffered heartache in the all-around competition on Wednesday and despite being a hot favourite for a medal in the Far East, a fall on the horizontal bar saw him nose-dive to fifth.

Oldham's pedigree cannot be questioned, having scooped three gold medals at the European Junior Championships in Birmingham in April, as well as two at the European Youth Olympic Festival last year.

But he endured disappointment once again in the floor exercise as he was penalised for stepping out of the competition area and again could only manage fifth place.

Rather than dwell on his disappointment however, Oldham immediately turned his attentions to the pommel horse and a notched up 13.925 points to take silver.

It could have been better for Oldham, had his difficult rating been slightly higher with gold going to Oleg Stepko of Ukraine, with 13.950.

But having finally got himself onto the podium, Oldham will not be rueing what might have been.  

"I'm happy to get a medal for Great Britain I was a bit disappointed in that I was two tenths down on my difficulty so that's what held me back into second," he said.

"It could've gone either way, it was so close, I could've either given me that little bit more or little bit less and today it went the other day and hopefully next time it will go my way.

"It was pretty difficult after the all-around, that night I didn't sleep that much but the last two days training I've not thought about it all.

I was much better today, I was a bit nervous on floor but after that I relaxed a bit."

Oldham will now focus on slaying some demons in Singapore with the horizontal bar final - the event which cost him dearly - to come on Sunday.

And the Nottingham youngster is adamant he lightning will not strike twice in the Lion City.

"But looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully I can improve on today.

"The bar didn't go great on Wednesday but in qualification it went really well.

"Even when I fell off on Wednesday, the rest of my routine was really clean and I'm just going to be positive and I should be OK."

  Lloyds TSB, proud partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and supporter of Team GB on their journey to the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympic Games. Visit LloydsTSB.com/London2012