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SINGAPORE – Here is a recap of sporting events and developments in Singapore over the past week (June 13-19):
Foil fencers win bronze at Asian Fencing C’ships
Singapore’s women’s national foil fencing team, consisting of Maxine Wong, Amita Berthier, Denyse Chan and Cheung Kemei, clinched a joint bronze medal after they finished fourth at the Asian Fencing Championships in Seoul on Tuesday (June 14).
This is the team’s first medal at the event since 2010, when Ruth Ng, Tay Yu Ling, Wang Wenying and Cheryl Wong also finished fourth.
The team was guaranteed a medal after reaching the semifinals of the women’s team foil competition, beating Hong Kong 45–31 in the table of eight fight. In the semifinals they lost 31:45 to eventual champions Japan and in the fight for third place they lost 35:44 to South Korea.
Singapore fencers put on a stellar performance at last month’s Hanoi SEA Games, winning six gold, four silver and five bronze medals to establish themselves as the top Southeast Asian nation in the sport.
Teong Tzen Wei is in the final of the 50m World Championships
Teong Tzen Wei became the third male swimmer from Singapore to compete in a FINA World Aquatics Championship final on Sunday (June 19) when he finished eighth in the men’s 50m butterfly event in Budapest.
The 24-year-old ran 23.29 seconds in the final, where he was the only Asian representative, while US star Caeleb Dressel won gold in 22.57 seconds. In Saturday’s semifinals, Teong set a personal best of 23.03 seconds, beating the 23.04 seconds he set at last month’s SEA Games.
This makes Teong the only male swimmer from Singapore to have made it to the finals of the World Championships, after Ang Peng Siong (fourth in the 50m freestyle in 1986) and Joseph Schooling (bronze in the 100m fly in 2015 and 2017).
In the women’s 1,500m freestyle on Sunday, Singapore’s Gan Chin Hwee ran 16 minutes 32.43 seconds, beating her national record of 16:33.54 set in 2019. The 18-year-old finished 14th 26 participants.
Aloysius Yapp and Toh Lian Han take second at the World Cup of Pool
Singapore billiards players Aloysius Yapp and Toh Lian Han finished second at the prestigious World Cup of billiards tournament in England, losing 6-11 to Spain in the final on Sunday.
Despite the loss, the duo made history as the first Singapore couple to reach the final. The city-state’s best performance to date came in 2007, when Toh and Chan Keng Kwang reached the quarterfinals.
Yapp and Toh had defeated former world champions Finland (9-6 in quarterfinals) and the United States (9-3 in semifinals) to reach the final. They earned US$30,000 (S$41,700) for their efforts.
The women’s national ice hockey team qualifies for the Asian Games
Singapore’s women’s national ice hockey team has qualified for the Asian Games for the first time since 1994 after finishing third in the qualifiers for the 2022 Asian Women’s Games in Jakarta on Tuesday (June 14).
In the seven-team competition, they defeated Sri Lanka (6-0), Cambodia (10-0), Uzbekistan (2-0) and Hong Kong (1-0); 0-0 draw with Indonesia; and lost 2-0 to Kazakhstan to become one of six teams to qualify for the Hangzhou Asiad qualifiers, originally scheduled to take place in October but pushed back to next year.
They narrowly missed out on a spot at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakart after suffering a 4-3 penalty shoot-out loss to Thailand at the 2017 Women’s Hockey Asia Cup.
Ronnie O’Sullivan wins the tournament at the start of the academy
Snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan emerged victorious in a four-player tournament on Saturday (June 18) to launch his snooker academy at The Grandstand.
The seven-time world champion defeated China’s world No. 6 Zhao Xintong 4-2 in the best-of-seven final. He had previously beaten Singaporean Jaden Ong – who is one of the Ronnie O’Sullivan Snooker Academy scholarship holders – while Zhao defeated reigning world champion Nutcharut Wongharuthai of Thailand to advance to the final.
O’Sullivan, 46, opened the 16,000-square-foot academy on June 11 with special guest Edwin Tong, Secretary of State for Culture, Community and Youth.
Lions end Asian Cup qualifying campaign with big win
Striker Ikhsan Fandi scored a hat-trick on Tuesday (14 June) as the Singapore men’s national football team ended their 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers with a 6-2 win over Myanmar in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
The 23-year-old scored in the ninth, 54th and 69th minutes while Song Ui-young (16th), Gabriel Quak (42nd) and Hafiz Nor (89th) also made the scorers’ list as the Lions denied the new coach Takayuki provided Nishigaya his first win in his fourth game in charge.
Singapore finished third in Group F and failed to qualify for next year’s Asian Cup finals after losing their opening two qualifiers to Kyrgyzstan (1-2) and Tajikistan (0-1). Only the six group winners and the five best runners-up advance.
Soh Rui Yong breaks his own national record in the 10,000m
Long-distance runner Soh Rui Yong of Singapore broke his own national record in the men’s 10,000m at the England Athletics Championships at the Waltham Forest Feel Good Center in London on Friday (17 June).
The 30-year-old, who studies law at University College London, clocked 31 minutes 12.05 seconds to beat his previous mark of 31:15.95 from 2014 in Oregon. He finished 10th in the race, which was won by Charlie Brisley in 29:54.36.
Soh holds national records in four endurance categories: 5,000m, 10,000m, half marathon and marathon.
Sailors win seventh place in a row 6-1 against Balestier
Lion City Sailors maintained their six-point lead at the top of the Singapore Premier League (SPL) with a 6-1 win over Balestier Khalsa at Toa Payoh Stadium on Sunday (19 June).
Goals from Shahdan Sulaiman (10th and 41st minutes), Song Ui-young (19th), Hariss Harun (26th), Gabriel Quak (74th) and Faris Ramli (81st) gave the defending champion his seventh league win right away . Daniel Goh scored for the hosts in added time.
Second-placed Albirex Niigata (Singapore) held on Sunday with a 5-0 win over Hougang United at Jurong East Stadium with goals from Tadanari Lee (2nd), Kodai Tanaka (19th), Ilhan Fandi (53rd), Masahiro Sugita (56′) and Masaya Idetsu (65′).
Third-placed Tanjong Pagar scored a 2-0 win over the Young Lions at Jurong East Stadium on Saturday with goals from Reo Nishiguchi (40′) and Faritz Hameed (49′). Over at Our Tampines Hub, Tampines Rovers stayed in fourth after Yasir Hanapi (33′) and Boris Kopitovic (84′) gave them a 2-0 win over Geylang International.
Freediver Michelle Ooi breaks the women’s national CWT record
Freediver Michelle Ooi of Singapore broke the national record for women’s constant weight (CWT) four times on her way to fourth place at the Aida Freediving World Cup Mini Competition in Egypt last month.
CWT is a freediving discipline in which one descends and ascends using a monofin and/or arms without pulling the line or changing his or her ballast. Only a single hold of the rope is allowed to halt the descent and begin the ascent.
The previous national record for the CWT discipline was 63 meters, set by Lin Anqi in 2021. Ooi, 32, set a new record of 64 m on the first day of competition and broke it on the following days with jumps of 66 m, 69 m and 72 m .
Italy’s Simona Auteri won the event with a depth of 88m, while Ukraine’s Kateryna Sadurska (82m) and Turkey’s Sahika Ercumen (80m) finished second and third respectively.
In Fandi Rules, 20 teams compete against each other in the grand final
The first edition of the Fandi Rules street football competition took place on Saturday (June 18) at the OCBC Arena, with 20 teams of U10 and U12 boys and six teams of U12 girls competing in the grand final.
The final 20 boys teams were narrowed out of 78 teams as they competed in a 4v4 format on selected hard courts across Singapore for two weeks, with the top two finalists in each district eventually progressing to the grand finals.
The players battled in front of local football legend Fandi Ahmad and Culture, Community and Youth Minister Edwin Tong. Here are the top three teams in each category:
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U-10 boys: 1. bed doc 2. Titans 3. On the Run Juniors.
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U-12 boys: 1. Golden Boots 2. super striker 3. Vanguard Warrior
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U-12 girls: 1. Girls Street Cubs 2. mendaki 3. Mendaki 2
Lionesses play two friendlies against Hong Kong
The Singapore women’s national football team will host Hong Kong in two international women’s senior friendly matches on June 23-26 as part of the squad’s preparation for the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Women’s Championship.
Lionesses head coach Stephen Ng has nominated a provisional squad of 29 players against the quarter-finalists of the Asian Games 2018, including several debutants who have impressed in the Deloitte Women’s Premier League – goalkeeper Nur Haziqah Haszman, midfielders Irsalina Irwan, Alyssa Deanna Yazrin and forward Claire Marie tay.
He has also recalled midfielder Lila Tan and promoted forward Summer Chong, who was part of the U19 national team and plays for Black Rock Football Club as part of her study abroad program at High Mowing School in the United States.
Both games will be played at Jalan Besar Stadium and will start at 8pm. Tickets ($10 adult, $5 concessions) are available on the Singapore Football Association website. Fans can also purchase the Singapore bundle for both games to enjoy a 10 percent discount.
Five days after the friendlies, Singapore travel to Manila for Group A matches of the AFF Women’s Championship, where they meet Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and sub-federation Australia.
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