SEA Games: Joseph Schooling among 517 nominated Singapore athletes for Cambodia

SINGAPORE — Singapore has selected a provisional contingent of 517 athletes to take part in 27 sports at the SEA Games in Cambodia this May.

Among the nominated athletes are Singapore's first Olympic gold medallist Joseph Schooling, as well as fellow swimmer Amanda Lim and Teong Tzen Wei, all of whom were involved in a cannabis-taking controversy last year.

Schooling, who had said that last year's Hanoi SEA Games might be his last - has been nominated for the men's 100m butterfly and the 4x100m medley races.

Lim is pencilled in for the women's 50m freestyle race and the 4x100m freestyle relay, while Teong - who smashed the Asian short-course record for men's 50m butterfly last month - is nominated for five events

Also nominated were top Singapore shuttlers such as former world champion Loh Kean Yew - who clinched a silver medal at the previous SEA Games in Hanoi - and reigning Commonwealth Games mixed doubles champions Terry Hee and Jessica Tan.

There was also a place for former silat world champion Sheik Ferdous Sheik Alau’ddin, who was charged on Monday for alleged drink driving.

Sport Singapore told The Straits Times that it will conduct an internal review with Sheik Ferdous after the court proceedings have been completed, in order to determine the appropriate actions to be taken.

The athlete contingent size will be finalised closer to the start of the biennial Games. Athletes who have yet to meet the qualifying criteria have until next month to meet the selection marks for the Singapore National Olympic Council's appeals committee to consider.

First time SEA Games is being held in Cambodia

This upcoming SEA Games will be held in Cambodia for the first time, and will feature a total of 608 events in 38 sports from 5 to 17 May,

However, a few Olympic sports such as shooting, rowing and archery - which had previously brought golds for Singapore - have been dropped.

Instead, host Cambodia has opted for obscure martial-art sports such as kun bokator arnis, vovinam and kun khmer, as well as new sports such as jet ski, obstacle race and teqball.

At the previous SEA Games in Vietnam last year, Team Singapore’s 424 athletes competed across 33 sports returned with a haul of 47 gold, 46 silver and 71 bronze medals.

The 2015 SEA Games remains Singapore’s best performing Games (84 gold, 73 silver and 102 bronze medals) while the 2017 edition in Kuala Lumpur (58 gold, 59 silver and 71 bronze medals) stands as Singapore’s best away Games.

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