WEEKLY ROUND-UP: Sports happenings in Singapore (18-24 Nov)
SINGAPORE — Here is a round-up of sports events and developments in the past week (18-24 November):
Chinese divers dominate FINA Diving Grand Prix Singapore
Chinese divers dominated the FINA Diving Grand Prix Singapore competition over the weekend, clinching seven out of the eight gold medals at stake at the OCBC Aquatic Centre.
The only gold they missed out was in the men’s 3m synchronised springboard competition on Sunday (24 November), when French divers Gwendal Bisch and Alexis Jandard (406.38 points) came in ahead of China’s Tai Xiaohu and Zhang Chao (404.25 points).
Singapore’s best result came from the same event, as twins Mark and Timothy Lee came in fourth and set a new personal-best mark with 387.21 points, breaking their previous mark of 381.78 points set at the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore.
AirBadminton debuts in Singapore
AirBadminton, a new form of badminton that involves a wind-resistant shuttlecock, made its debut in Singapore on Saturday (23 November) at the Badminton Festival held at HeartBeat@Bedok.
Singapore shuttlers Lucas Saw, Qayum Noor, Tan Shi Bin, Johaan Prajogo, Sabrina Lee and Alexis Lee played the game in an outdoor court while using the new shuttlecocks. According to the Badminton World Federation, the new shuttlecocks will be available for sale to the public from next year.
For more information on AirBadminton, please contact the Singapore Badminton Association’s PR Consultant, CROWD.
Chinese paddlers win both events at T2 Diamond Singapore
China’s table tennis players won both the men’s and women’s singles events in the Seamaster T2 Diamond Singapore event at Our Tampines Hub on Sunday (24 November).
Men’s world No. 2 paddler Xu Xin, 29, easily defeated his 18-year-old Taiwanese rival Lin Yun-ju 11-9, 11-5, 11-8, 11-6 in the final, clinching US$100,000 (S$136,000) in prize money.
In the women’s final, world No. 3 Sun Yingsha found herself in a tough battle with Japan’s world No. 7 Mima Ito, before eventually prevailing 11-7, 11-3, 6-11, 7-11, 5-3, 3-5, 5-4.
The T2 tournament is played under the Fast5 format, whereby if there is no winner after 24 minutes, players alternate serves, and the first player to reach five points wins the subsequent sets.
Joseph Schooling in short film with Gillette
Ahead of this week’s SEA Games in the Philippines, Singapore’s Olympic gold medallist Joseph Schooling launched a short film in collaboration with Gillette on Monday (18 November) to inspire Singaporeans to be their best self.
The 72-second video starts off with Schooling reminiscing as he shaves, thinking about the things his father Colin had taught him from when he was a little boy: to better himself with every stroke, to be a world beater, to respect but never fear the competition and, above all, to always be a gentleman.
The film is being aired on local terrestrial and cable channels.
Singapore events nominated for MPW Asian Awards
The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon is up for two awards at the inaugural Mass Participation World (MPW) Asian Awards, which will be held on 3 December during the Mass Participation World Conference at Hilton Singapore Hotel.
It is among the nominees in the Event of the Year and Best Running Event categories.
Other Singapore events being nominated are OCBC Cycle Singapore (Best Asian Cycling Event), Spartan Race Bukit Timah (Best Obstacle Course Race Event) and MetaSprint Series (Best Asian Engagement).
Faris, Tajeli included in SEA Games football squad
Terengganu FC forward Faris Ramli and Warriors FC defender Tajeli Salamat have been include as the overaged players in the Singapore Under-22 national football squad for the SEA Games in the Philippines.
The 20-man squad departed for the Games on Saturday (23 November), and will face Laos in their first opening-group match on Tuesday.
Team Singapore – Goalkeepers: Kenji Rusydi, Zharfan Rohaizad. Defenders: Irfan Fandi, Irfan Najeeb, Jordan Vestering, Ryhan Stewart, Syahrul Sazali, Tajeli Salamat, Lionel Tan, Zulqarnaen Suzliman. Midfielders: Haiqal Pashia, Hami Syahin, Jacob Mahler, Joshua Pereira, Naqiuddin Eunos, Nur Luqman, Saifullah Akbar, Shah Shahiran. Forwards: Faris Ramli, Ikhsan Fandi.
Fandi Ahmad appointed Head of Elite Youth
The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) announced on Saturday (23 November) that Fandi Ahmad will continue his work in the development of young Singapore footballers, and will be appointed as Head of Elite Youth upon the expiry of his current contract on 31 December.
Fandi, who is currently leading the Under-22 squad at the SEA Games, will work closely with FAS technical director Joseph Palatsides to enhance the pathways and structure for the development of youth players for the national teams. This includes player scouting and tracking, mentorship programmes as well as specialised training sessions for players in various national squads.
In addition, he will also be part of national coach Tatsuma Yoshida’s backroom staff, in order to create greater synergy between the elite youth developmental pipeline and the national team.
Former national Nazri Nasir is set to take over Fandi’s current role as Young Lions head coach.
Nong-O retains world muay thai title at Edge of Greatness
Veteran muay thai fighter Nong-O Gaiyanghadao retained his world bantamweight muay thai title at the ONE Championship fight event One: Edge of Greatness at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday (22 November), beating Saemapetch Fairtex with a stunning knockout in the fourth round of their main-event bout.
Singaporean fighter Amir Khan was also victorious in his mixed martial arts lightweight bout against Malaysia’s Ev Ting, earning a split-decision win after three rounds.
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