We’re sending our best athletes, so don’t worry, the medals will come: SEA Games chef-de-mission
SINGAPORE – It is six years till Singapore hosts the SEA Games but preparations have already started.
The Republic is fielding 558 athletes, including 260 debutants, across 30 sports for the upcoming May 5-17 edition in Cambodia and Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said such overseas exposure will be key.
He added: “It’s really about being in the thick of the battle and if you have that experience, it will stand you in very good stead in subsequent competitions.”
On whether Singapore could improve on its haul of 47 golds, 46 silvers and 71 bronzes from the Hanoi Games in 2022, chef de mission Dr Hing Siong Chen would only say: “They are all very ready.
“They have worked very hard with their coaches and their national federations to hit their own personal best.
“We are sending our best. We do select them very carefully and every athlete who is going deserves to be there. So don’t worry, the medals will come. They will try very hard and all we need to do is support them.”
The official flag-presentation ceremony on Saturday morning also felt like a passing of the torch as hundreds of athletes mingled at Our Tampines Hub’s Festive Plaza. Diver Avvir Tham, 18, approached sprinter Shanti Pereira, 26, for a wefie and reminded her how he had asked for her autograph in 2015, when she won the 200m gold.
Tham himself became a SEA Games medallist when he took silver in the 1m springboard individual event in Vietnam.
Flagbearer and gymnast Terry Tay, 29, will be competing at his fifth Games. He earned a silver in the floor exercise a year ago and said the team are aiming to better their 2022 haul of one silver and three bronzes.
Boccia athlete Toh Sze Ning, who will be the country’s flagbearer for the June 3-9 Asean Para Games (APG), also in Phnom Penh, is another eyeing more medals.
She claimed a women’s BC3 individual silver and BC3 mixed pair gold with Aloysius Gan at the 2022 APG. Toh, 29, said: “I feel so inspired by the people who have been working very hard behind the scenes with me, which makes me want to strive to do my best at these Games, where I would like to improve on my previous competition results.”
Singapore will send 26 athletes across six sports to Cambodia, which is 10 fewer than in 2022, when they won seven golds, nine silvers and 12 bronzes.
APG chef de mission Erynne Lim said: “We have a good pipeline and the athletes who have been selected have worked really hard to meet the qualification standards.
“This is the first time Cambodia is hosting the Games, and there are a couple of events we are not participating in, but I think it’s still a good turnout. We have three debutants whom we are proud of, so we can see the younger generation of athletes coming through and we hope to encourage more of that as well.”
With a new wave of Covid-19 infections spreading recently, Dr Hing, who is a family physician, advised the travelling contingent to be cautious.
He said: “We have already told them to be very mindful, try to mask up in public, rest enough, take their vitamins and stay away from sick people.”
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
