Yahoo News WEEKLY ROUND-UP: Sports happenings in Singapore (20-26 June)
SINGAPORE — Here is a round-up of sports events and developments in Singapore in the past week (20 to 26 June):
StanChart Singapore Marathon returns to mass racing format in December
The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM) will return in its mass racing format on the weekend of 3 and 4 December, the first time it is able to do so since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event will kick off with 5km and 10km on Saturday morning, while the marathon (42.195km) and half marathon (21.1km) categories will flag off on Sunday morning. Details on the Kids Dash, race routes and race expo will be announced later.
This year's event is expected to draw up to 50,000 participants, and prevailing safe management measures will still be in place to safeguard the health and safety of all participants.
Participants will also be able to sign up for the Double Up Challenge to take part in two races (limited spots). They can choose to register for either the 5km or 10km category, combined with a half-marathon or marathon. Upon completion, they will receive their respective event finisher medals and a Double Up Challenge medal.
Public registration for the SCSM began on Friday (24 June). For more information, visit the official website.
Albirex reignite SPL title race with 2-1 over Sailors
Albirex Niigata (Singapore) reignited the Singapore Premier League (SPL) title race on Friday (24 June), when they defeated league leaders Lion City Sailors 2-1 at Jalan Besar Stadium.
Kodai Tanaka's powerful 54th-minute strike from a narrow angle sealed the victory, after teammate Masaya Idetsu's header on the stroke of half-time cancelled out Kim Shin-wook's 42nd-minute open for the Sailors.
The result narrows second-placed Albirex's gap from the Sailors to three points, and also ended the defending champions' seven-match winning run.
On Saturday, Balestier Khalsa defeated the Young Lions 1-0 at Jalan Besar Stadium, courtesy of Ryoya Taniguchi's 69th-minute winner. At Our Tampines Hub on Sunday, a fifth-minute goal by Vincent Bezecourt was enough for Geylang International to end their 11-match winless run against Tanjong Pagar United.
Lionesses fall twice to Hong Kong at Jalan Besar
The Singapore national women's football team played two friendly matches against Hong Kong in preparation for next month's AFF Championship in Manila, and lost 0-4 and 0-1 on Thursday (23 June) and Sunday respectively at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Head coach Stephen Ng used the first match to hand international debuts to goalkeeper Nurul Haziqah Haszwan, defender Irsalina Irwan, and forwards Summer Chong and Claire Tay. Irsalina became the sixth-youngest debutant for Singapore at 15 years and 173 days old.
Against the 78th-ranked Hong Kong team, the Lionesses - ranked 132nd in the world - put up a stronger defensive performance in the second match, and Ng believes the experience would serve them well as they face Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines in Group A of the AFF Championship.
37 para-athletes selected for ASEAN Para Games
The Singapore National Paralympic Council (SNPC) has selected an initial 37 para-athletes for the upcoming ASEAN Para Games (APG) from 30 July to 6 August in Solo, Indonesia.
There are 17 para-athletes who will make their APG debuts, while Paralympians Nur Syahidah Alim (para archery), Muhammad Diroy Noordin (para athletics), and Sophie Soon (para swimming) will lend their major Games experience to the Team Singapore contingent.
The oldest athlete is 57-year-old Tan Kok Leong (para table tennis), while the youngest athlete at 14 years old is Janelle Gan (para swimming).
Athletes who have yet to meet the qualifying criteria have until end June to meet the selection criteria for the Games.
Youth paddlers in 13-medal haul at Bangkok tournament
Singapore's youth paddlers clinched four golds, five silvers and four bronzes at the Southeast Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships in Bangkok from 17 to 22 June.
The tournament, which was in its 26th edition, was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here are the medal winners:
Gold: Cadet boys' team (Ellsworth Le, Loy Xing Yao, Yang Ze Yi, Nicholas Tan), cadet girls' team (Chloe Lao, Loy Ming Ting, Eudora Lee, Naomi Lum), junior girls’ singles (Tan Zhao Yun), cadet boys' doubles (Yang Ze Yi/Nicholas Tan).
Silver: Cadet boy’s singles (Ellsworth Le), cadet girls’ singles (Loy Ming Ying), cadet boys’ doubles (Ellsworth Le/Loy Xing Yao), junior boys’ team (Tan Zhao Ray, Andy Wong, Zhou Jing He, Jayden Tan), junior girls’ team (Tan Zhao Yun, Janissa Cheng, Ser Lin Qian, Gisele Peh).
Bronze: Cadet boys’ singles (Loy Xing Yao), cadet girls’ doubles (Chloe Lai/Loy Ming Ying), junior boys’ singles (Tan Zhao Ray), junior boys’ doubles (Andy Wong/Tan Zhao Ray).
Rigorer Youth Cup saw 82 teams participating
A total of 82 teams participated in the Rigorer Youth Cup basketball tournament, which was held over the past month at the Singapore Basketball Centre. It was the first 5-on-5 basketball competition held in Singapore following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
The finals for the six divisions - Under-14 boys and girls, U-16 boys and girls, U-18 boys and girls - were held on Friday and Saturday (24 and 25 June). Here are the results of the finals:
U-14 boys: Dunman Secondary School defeated SG Basketball.
U-14 girls: Nanyang Girls’ High School def. Kim Huat R&E Basketball Club Bee.
U-16 boys: Adroit Bao Gong Temple def. Heart Of Basketball.
U-16 girls: Siglap Black Girls def. Kembangan Chai Chee Youth.
U-18 boys: Siglap Black def. Adroit Sheng Gong Culture.
U-18 girls: Kembangan Chai Chee Youth def. Siglap.
National ice hockey youth team in maiden international competition
The men’s national ice hockey team have sent their senior youth squad to their maiden international competition at the Ice Hockey Under-20 Asia and Oceania Championship in Bangkok from Saturday (25 June) to 2 July.
Organised by International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament was originally scheduled for February 2020 under its previous name IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia, but was eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Singapore had earned a bronze medal in the top men's division in the 2019 edition.
Singapore will face Hong Kong, India and Indonesia in Group B, while Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and United Arab Emirates will play in Group A.
DP World Tour returns with Singapore Classic next February
Europe's professional golf circuit DP World Tour announced on Tuesday (21 June) that it will return to Singapore for the first time since 2014, when the Laguna National Golf Resort Club hosts the Singapore Classic from 9 to 12 February in 2023.
The tour circuit first held a tournament in the city-state in 1993, when Nick Faldo won the Johnny Walker Classic. The second edition in 1996 was won by Ian Woosnam.
The inaugural Singapore Masters was held at Singapore Island Country Club in 2001, before moving to Laguna National from 2002 to 2007. Sentosa Golf Club was the next host for the Masters from 2009 to 2012.
Laguna National was also the venue for DP World Tour’s last visit, when Chilean Felipe Aguilar triumphed in The Championship in 2014.
The Singapore Classic will be the first event in a three-year agreement, and will have a US$2 million (S$2.8 million) prize purse.
Tampines Rovers, JSSL launch women's football programme
Singapore Premier League's Tampines Rovers Football Club (TRFC) and youth football club JSSL FC have launched a women’s football programme, which will see the formation of a new women’s team and scholarships being offered to young aspiring female footballers.
The partnership between the two clubs, which will last from June 2022 to June 2025, will see up to 30 scholarships will be offered to young local aspiring female footballers across six age groups: Under-6, U-8, U-10, U-12, U-14 and U-16.
Five girls in each of these six age groups will be awarded a full scholarship to JSSL FC, which is valued at about $4,000 per scholar yearly. The scholarship will cover all mid-week and weekend trainings, league and training kits as well as all league games and will be reviewed on a yearly basis.
Meanwhile, try-outs for the JSSL TRFC women’s team will be held at Our Tampines Hub in early August, open to all women aged 16 and above. The new JSSL TRFC women’s team will compete in the next edition of the Deloitte Women’s National League in September, and then in the Deloitte Women’s Professional League in January 2023.
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