Top 10 Singapore sports newsmakers in 2018

Singapore may not be among the top sporting nations even in Southeast Asia, but it nevertheless has a sizeable group of elite athletes who dedicate themselves towards the pursuit of sporting excellence. A few of them have made the headlines for their successes in 2018, while others have generated heated debate on the state of sports in the Republic. Here are the top 10 Singapore sports newsmakers in 2018:

10. Angela Lee

Technically she is not a Singaporean, being born in Canada, and she also does most of her training in Hawaii. However, as mixed martial arts (MMA) star Angela Lee fights under the Singapore-based Evolve MMA academy in ONE Championship, local fans have gravitated towards her battling qualities, cheerful personality and in-ring success.

This has not been an entirely successful year for the 22-year-old Lee. Early on, she made a comeback from a car accident late last year, which forced her to pull out of her title defence against Japan’s Mei Yamaguchi in November 2017. In their rescheduled fight in May, Lee maintained her unbeaten professional record and retained her atomweight women’s title in beating Yamaguchi via unanimous decision.

She then took time off to get married to Brazil jiu-jitsu fighter Bruno Pucci in July, before attempting to move up one weight division in ONE Championship to face reigning flyweight champion Xiong Jingnan of China. However, just days before their scheduled title fight in November, Lee was struck down by a back injury, forcing her to call off the bout.

9. National men’s contract bridge team

Contract bridge, a sport? The card game generated some lively debate after being included as a sport in the Jakarta Asian Games in August.

To some, contract bridge is a game of leisure and luck rather than a competitive sport involving physical and mental strength. Yet, others argue that contract bridge relies on mental skill and fortitude where the element of luck is eliminated.

What is undeniable was the Singapore men’s team’s supremacy in Asia, as the four-man squad – Poon Hua, Loo Choon Chou, Zhang Yukun and Fong Kien Hoong – claimed their first-ever Asian Games gold for their sport by beating Hong Kong convincingly in the final. Whether other major Games will accept contract bridge as part of their sports line-up remains to be seen.

8. Muhamad Ridhwan

Hopes were high this year for Singapore’s top boxer Muhamad Ridhwan to establish himself as a rising talent on the world stage. The 30-year-old had a perfect professional record of 11 victories from 11 bouts, and had defeated Filipino fighter Jeson Umbal in April for the International Boxing Organisation (IBO) intercontinental featherweight (57kg) title.

That gave him a shot at the IBO super bantamweight world title in September, and join the likes of boxing stars Anthony Joshua (heavyweight) and Gennady Golovkin (middleweight) as IBO champions if he beats Namibia’s Paulus Ambunda at Marina Bay Sands.

The scheduled title bout went the full 12 rounds, but Ambunda proved too strong for Ridhwan and handed the Singapore his first professional defeat. A rare setback for Ridhwan, and fans will hope that he can bounce back for more title challenges.

7. Soh Rui Yong

Winner of the last two SEA Games marathon golds, there is no doubting Soh Rui Yong’s credentials as Singapore’s top men’s marathoner of this generation. There is also little doubt that the 27-year-old is one of the country’s most outspoken athletes, fearlessly speaking out on what he perceives are injustices and mistreatments amid the sports fraternity.

He touched a raw nerve again in October this year, when he disputed fellow Singapore marathoner Ashley Liew’s account of sportsmanship during the 2015 SEA Games marathon, in which he slowed down for his rivals to catch up after they missed a U-turn and took a wrong path. For that act, Liew won plenty of plaudits and was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy by the International Committee for Fairplay in October 2016.

Soh’s allegation was criticised by Liew’s athlete management team, ONEathlete Team, for having “no material basis”, while the Singapore National Olympic Council, who nominated Liew for the trophy, also stood by its decision. Not surprisingly, Soh stood by his actions, insisting, “My one and only regret is not speaking up sooner.”

6. V Sundram Moorthy

It seemed like a no-brainer in 2016. After an unsuccessful and alienating tenure by German Bernd Stange, the Singapore national football team were crying out for a local head coach who was able to connect with the players and motivate them to success. And V Sundram Moorthy, a former star national forward, had led the LionsXII to the Malaysian Super League title in 2013 and was the popular choice for the post.

Yet, upon taking up the hot seat, Sundram inexplicably lost his winning touch. Employing an ultra-defensive strategy throughout his tenure, he garnered just three victories in 23 games in charge, as the Lions recorded a paltry 0.61 goals per game. National team players reportedly struggled to adapt to his dour tactics, as they crashed out of the 2016 AFF Suzuki Cup in the group stages with one draw and two defeats.

So it was no surprise that Sundram garnered little sympathy when he resigned in April. The Lions were in the doldrums having exited the Asian Cup qualifiers, and looked incapable of even scrapping any victory by then. And Sundram’s fortunes failed to turn even when he took charge of the Laos national team in October, as he oversaw four heavy defeats in the 2018 Suzuki Cup.

5. Martina Veloso

Her mile-wide smile belies a deep desire for perfection, and the 19-year-old shooter was close to perfect at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in April.

She won two golds in the women’s 10m air rifle and 50m air rifle (prone position) competitions, and did so with Games record-breaking scores in both.

Ever since she became the first Singaporean to win a shooting World Cup event in Munich in 2014, Veloso’s career has been on an upward trajectory. Subsequently, she won silver at the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing and a gold each at the 2015 and 2017 SEA Games. She is definitely an athlete to watch in the coming years.

4. Yip Pin Xiu

It was a momentous year for Singapore’s top Paralympian both in and out of the swimming pool. The three-time Paralympic champion completed her major Games gold-medal collection when she won her first-ever Asian Para Games gold when she won the 50m backstroke (S4) race in Jakarta in October.

Outside the pool, the 26-year-old was also making significant breakthroughs. In September, she became Singapore’s youngest-ever Nominated Member of Parliament, taking up the post along with a new batch of nine NMPs. She plans to discuss issues such as sporting culture and climate change in Parliament.

Then in October, she became the first person with a disability to be featured in an advertising campaign for a major beauty company in Singapore, when she signed on as a brand ambassador for French cosmetics house Lancome. Despite her muscle dystrophy disability, Yip is definitely going places.

3. Fandi Ahmad and his two sons

It was a surreal experience during recent matches involving the Singapore national football team at the National Stadium, as fans reserved their loudest pre-match cheers for someone who was not even playing – interim head coach Fandi Ahmad, once the Lions’ star striker and forever Singapore’s favourite footballing son.

The 56-year-old was tasked to guide the struggling Lions at the biennial 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup, where they have not made the semi-finals since 2012. And while they missed out on the last four again, Fandi at least managed to end their dreadful winless streak to register two crowd-pleasing home victories against Indonesia (1-0) and Timor Leste (6-1). The Lions looked united and motivated under him, and fans are hoping that his job can be made permanent.

Among the new talents that Fandi brought into the national squad were his two eldest sons, 21-year-old defender Irfan and 19-year-old striker Ikhsan. Both have since established themselves as integral players in the Lions’ first XI, and as symbols of renewed optimism for the team’s future.

2. Joseph Schooling

By his high standards, 2017 was not a good year for Joseph Schooling. Despite winning six golds at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, Singapore’s only Olympic gold medallist fell short in the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, being beaten into third place in his pet event, the 100m butterfly.

When 2018 arrived, the 23-year-old was eager to prove that last year was a mere blip. In March, he helped his University of Texas team clinched their fourth consecutive overall men’s title at the NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships.

Then he returned to Singapore to train for August’s Asian Games, became leaner for better flexibility, and returned to winning ways by clinching two golds (50m and 100m fly, the latter in a new Asian record) and two relay bronzes (4x100m and 4x200m). It all augurs well in Schooling’s quest for more honours at the 2019 World Championships and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

1. Ben Davis

The most talked-about sportsperson in Singapore this year was a previously-unknown 18-year-old footballer. Midfielder Ben Davis held three citizenships – Britain (his father is British), Thailand (his mother is Thai and he was born in Phuket) and Singapore – but he has been representing the Republic in various youth squads since 2015.

In June, Davis made headlines when he signed a professional contract with English Premier League side Fulham FC, allowing him to earn a weekly wage while representing the club’s Under-17 and Under-23 sides. Since he is due for national service this year, he and his family applied for deferment with support from the Football Association of Singapore.

When the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) rejected the application on grounds of Davis not meeting its criteria of being a potential medal winner at major sporting events, it sparked off a huge debate all over regular and social media as Singapore argued over the relevance of such deferment criteria, and whether Singapore is making it difficult for a youngster to fulfil his sporting dream.

The topic touched a raw nerve among Singaporeans, as they used Davis’ situation to weigh up their national duties against their career prospects in numerous online discussions. Should Mindef have made an exception for Davis, given that he was hardly a standout player in the national youth teams but earned his Fulham contract via his father Harvey’s good connections? It is a delicate call that would not please everyone.