Blows for volleyball, sepak takraw and weightlifting
Singapore will not be represented in volleyball, sepak takraw and weightlifting at August's South-east Asia Games, after the three sports' associations lost their appeals for inclusion yesterday.
A total of 37 athletes across 10 sports were successful in their appeals with the Singapore National Olympic Council.
They include pole vaulter Rachel Isabel Yang, who set a new national record of 3.91m at the Thailand Open Track and Field Championships near Bangkok earlier this month.
The men's and women's 4x100m sprint teams and the women's squash team have also been added to the contingent of 800 athletes who were approved by SNOC in April.
But representatives from sepak takraw, whose men's team bagged a silver and seven bronze medals at the 2015 Games in Singapore, will not be among them.
The Singapore Sepak Takraw Federation's secretary-general Borhan Saini said in a statement: "This news will be devastating for the sepak takraw players who have been training very hard for the Games.
"We are considering sending another appeal to SNOC for them to reconsider their earlier decision."
The women's volleyball team won a bronze on home soil in 2015 - the Republic's first medal in the sport since 1993 when the men's team also won a bronze.
Deputy president of the Volleyball Association of Singapore Vincent Lim said: "This is not good for Singapore volleyball.
"It will be very difficult to get new players in future.
"It is very disappointing, I thought we stood a good chance (after winning the bronze).
"The players have trained very hard and made a lot of sacrifices for the team (in terms of) the resources and effort put in."
Weightlifting, which did not feature in the 2015 Games, was the sport which delivered Singapore its first Olympic medal in 1960.
Said Singapore Weightlifting Federation president Tom Liaw: "We are disappointed that we were not given a chance. But what else is there to be done?"
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