SEA Games: S'pore to lobby for golden sports

MYANMAR - Sports which are Singapore's traditional gold mines, such as bowling, sailing and shooting, will be contested in a big way when the Republic hosts the next SEA Games in 2015.

At its council meeting in Naypyidaw Tuesday, the SEA Games Federation approved 30 sports which will be staged in two years' time.

Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) secretary-general Chris Chan said there will be room for another six to eight sports, to be decided along with the number of events in each sport, during a meeting on Feb 15 next year.

Some sports that could still have a chance of being included in the Games - Singapore's first hosting of the biennial event since 1993 - are floorball, petanque, boxing and weightlifting.

Floorball is a demonstration sport in Naypyidaw and Singapore bagged both the men and women's golds last week.

Chan said he would lobby for events which have traditionally been Singapore's strong suit to be included in the 2015 Games from June 5-16.

"I would tell the other council members, 'This time, being the host, it's my turn to decide. Please let me have my way'," he added.

With 30 sports already confirmed, it means that bowling, which was dropped for these Games as well as the 2009 Laos edition, makes a comeback.

In 2011 in Jakarta, Singapore's keglers won three golds, two silvers and two bronzes.

They had a similar good result when Singapore last hosted the Games in 1993: 3-1-4.

Sailing fared even better in 1993, snaring five golds, one silver and three bronzes in Singapore. It has continued to be one of the Republic's major gold mines in the last decade, most notably bagging seven golds in Manila's Subic Bay in 2005.

Singapore Sailing Federation chief executive officer Tan Wearn Haw said that it is in discussions with the SNOC and the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) to include all the sailing classes that will be contested at the Olympic Games.

"It would make sense because we would be just a year away from the Rio Games in 2016, and we should have every Olympic-class event to cater to the sailors around the region," he said.

Ditto shooting, as Singapore Shooting Association (SSA) president Michael Vaz is also planning to reinstate all the Olympic shooting disciplines for Singapore in two years' time.

In addition, the SSA is also lobbying for the addition of the Police Pistol Combat (PPC) event, which involves shooting targets from a range of distances (5m, 10m, 15m, 25m).

There are about 30 to 35 shooters in Singapore currently doing the PPC event, mainly from the police force, and they have won regional competitions against the likes of the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.

Said Vaz: "We're 90 per cent confident of adding that, and are already building a range to prepare for it."

Shooting was a major gold-getter in the 2007 (eight golds, six silvers and six bronzes) and 2009 Games (6-5-5).

There are only six shooting and 13 sailing events in Myanmar.

Some of the sports making a return to the programme in 2015 include fencing, netball, rugby sevens, squash and triathlon.

The Singapore netball fraternity was elated by the sport's inclusion, the first time it is in the Games programme since Kuala Lumpur in 2001, when Singapore finished second to the hosts.

Said Netball Singapore's chief executive Cyrus Medora: "This is really exciting news - the best news we've heard since we won the Asian title earlier this year.

"Of course we will be targeting a gold medal in 2015, with Malaysia being our biggest rivals.

"The sport has seen tremendous growth in popularity over the years, and we cannot wait to showcase our national netballers at the Games."