Singapore sports round-up (11-17 March): EA Sports/LALIGA launch community pitch, Loh Kean Yew loses to Lee Zii Jia

SINGAPORE — Here is a round-up of sports events and developments in Singapore in the past week (11 to 17 March):

EA Sports, LALIGA unveils newly-renovated Ang Mo Kio pitch

EA Sports launched its FC Futures program in Singapore as part of their commitment to provide access to football globally and grow the game for all. As part of the initiative, and in partnership with LALIGA, it unveiled a newly-renovated community pitch in Ang Mo Kio within the community of Cheng San-Seletar on 9 March.

The pitch, which was revealed alongside former Valencia and Barcelona footballer Gaizka Mendieta, was designed with creative support from local artist Tobyato, who is renowned for his sprawling wall murals and artist-brand collaborations.

It was inspired by the year of the dragon, and has abstract motifs in the form of clouds that collectively outline the silhouette of the reptile.

Loh Kean Yew crashed out of All England Championships

Singapore top men's singles shuttler Loh Kean Yew crashed out of the All England Open Badminton Championships in the round of 16, succumbing to old rival Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia 15-21, 12-21 in just 33 minutes at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham on Thursday (14 March).

The world No.10 was out of sorts against Lee - who was the 2021 winner of the event - as he sunk to 2-7 in his head-to-head record against the Malaysian.

In the mixed doubles, Singapore's Terry Hee and Jessica Tan also lost in the round of 16, succumbing to South Korea's Kim Won-ho and Jeon Na-Eun 14-21, 15-21.

Rising golf stars to play at Porsche Singapore Classic

Rising golf stars Rasmus Højgaard, Tom McKibbin and Yannik Paul - all winners of on the DP World Tour - as well as Porsche brand ambassador Paul Casey will be taking part in the Porsche Singapore Classic at Laguna National Golf Resort Club from 21 to 24 March.

Denmark's Højgaard has four DP World Tour titles to his name and is eighth in the Race to Dubai Rankings, while Northern Irishman McKibbin claimed his first DP World Tour title at last year’s Porsche European Open.

Germany’s Paul, who won the 2022 Mallorca Golf Open, is looking to build on a positive start to 2024 which has seen him secure two top-10s in five starts. Briton Casey has 25 professional wins, including three PGA tour victories and 15 DP World Tour titles.

The quartet will be joined by PGA Tour winner Matthieu Pavon, 2019 Open Champion Shane Lowry and Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino, who won his maiden DP World Tour title at last month’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. Singapore will be represented by three golfers – Nicklaus Chiam, Joshua Yap and amateur Irvyn Tan.

Ironman world champs confirm participation in PTO S'pore T100

Reigning Ironman world champions Lucy Charles-Barclay and Sam Laidlow will be participating in the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) Singapore T100 - formerly known as the PTO Asian Open - on 13 and 14 April.

Organisers also announced on 11 March that Singapore’s Olympic swimming champion Joseph Schooling will also race for the first time since completing national service, having participated in the triathlon relay in the inaugural edition last year.

The PTO have also confirmed that this year’s course will be similar to last year's, taking place against the backdrop of the iconic Singapore skyline. It will comprise a 2km freshwater swim in Marina Bay, an 80km cycle on closed roads, and an 18km run on the waterfront promenade.

SportSG, Japan Sport Council establish cooperative framework

The Japan Sport Council (JSC) signed the "Project Annex" agreement with Sport Singapore (SportSG) on 14 March to establish a cooperative framework for people development in both countries.

Based on the memorandum of understanding signed in April 2013 - and extended in 2016 and 2022 - JSC and SportSG have carried out various collaborative activities that brought mutual benefit to both organisations.

As part of this new agreement, the Japan High Performance Sport Center (HPSC) and SportSG will establish workspaces in Tokyo and Singapore to promote staff exchanges and international joint research and to promote the development of the next generation in both countries. In addition, there will be opportunities for collaborations and learnings regarding programmes for children, youths and seniors, as well as industry innovation and digitalisation.

The signing ceremony was held in the presence of SportSG chief executive officer Alan Goh, JSC president and CEO Satoshi Ashidate, and JSC vice-president and HPSC’s high performance director Takeshi Kukidome.

StarHub to screen Indian Premier League cricket games

The Indian Premier League 2024 will be available from 22 March to StarHub subscribers with the Sports+ pass. Cricket fans can look forward to an exciting competition as the reigning champions Chennai Super Kings defend their title, with five-time champions Mumbai Indians set to be strong challengers.

The Indian Premier League will be played in the T20 format, where teams compete to score as many runs as they can with 120 balls, in an innings. With StarHub TV+, customers have the convenience to enjoy the league on multiple devices, catch all the action with on-demand highlights and rewind to watch key moments again.

StarHub’s Sports+ pass is available with a 24-month contract starting from $25.46/month or with a contract-free subscription at $45.83/month. Customers can watch the Indian Premier League on Hub Sports 4 (Ch204) and Hub Sports 5 (Ch205).

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