Team Singapore secures best away Games performance

04 Sep 2017
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• Haul of 57 golds, 58 silvers and 73 bronzes, 15 Games records, 13 national records and 27 personal bests for Team Singapore
• Chef de Mission Milan Kwee impressed with Team Singapore’s tenacity and lauded organisers for a safe and fruitful Games

Kuala Lumpur, 30 August 2017 –  Team Singapore summed up their impressive performance at the 29th SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur with a record away haul of 57 gold, 58 silver and 73 bronze medals. The medal tally in KL exceeded the previous record secured 10 years ago in Korat, Thailand of 43 gold, 43 silver and 41 bronze medals. It is also the second-best medal haul, behind the 2015 SEA Games.

Prior to the Games, this contingent was already the largest for an away Games, with a total of 560 athletes in 35 sports represented Singapore at the Games. Of these, 303 were debutants and 71 of them won medals at the their first outing. Debutants Teong Tzen Wei sprinted to the 50m men’s freestyle title, 16-year-old fencer Amita Berthier claimed the individual foil crown and sailor Jillian Lee was dominant in the Laser Radial women’s event, winning six out of eight races. Half of the winning men’s bowling team were competing at their first Games.

There were also breakthroughs, including historic medals in cycling, golf, squash and ice skating. Thanks to teamwork, Calvin Sim won a gold in the men’s omnium, Singapore’s first men’s cycling title in 20 years. The golf men’s team broke a 28-year title drought, and figure skaters Yu Shuran and Chloe Ing took home the first gold and silver winter sport medals at the SEA Games. The squash men’s team took home a gold in the team event, their first since the Chiang Mai SEA Games in 1995.

Team Singapore broke an all-time best away aquatics record with 23 gold, 16 silver and 17 bronze medals in five disciplines including swimming and synchronised swimming. In table tennis, our paddlers won five out of seven available titles with Feng Tianwei leading the charge with three gold medals. The Cuesports team also did well with three gold and one bronze medals.

Games and national records were aplenty in swimming, athletics, shooting, waterski and wakeboard. Youth Olympian Samantha Yeo broke two long-standing records and bettered the 200m individual medley and 100m breaststroke in one evening. Jasmine Ser’s comeback in the 50m rifle 3 positions earned her a gold medal and a Games record for a final. Dipna Lim-Prasad shattered Chee Swee Lee’s 43-year record, the longest-standing women’s national record, in the 400m race and earned a silver medal in doing so.

Team sports such as rugby and water polo met expectations facing tough competition from the region. The cricket team, whose sport is featured at the Games for the first time, performed well to deliver a gold in the men’s team T20 event.

In Olympic sports such as fencing, sailing, swimming and shooting, there were exceptional young talents in the form of Lau Ywen, Amita Berthier, Ryan Lo and Martina Veloso, all of whom have showed potential to excel on a bigger stage in future major Games. The class of 2010 and 2014 Youth Olympic Games of Stefanie Tan, Amanda Lim, Nur Izlyn Zaini and Darren Lim also performed well winning medals and equalling or setting new national records.

Milan Kwee, the chef de mission for Team Singapore supported by assistant chefs de mission Lee Wung Yew and Mark Chay, expressed pride on achieving a successful Games for Team Singapore. He praised the support staff who worked behind the scenes to prepare the team for the Games and the fans who travelled to KL to cheer for Team Singapore.

On the team’s performance, he said, “It has been a brilliant display by Team Singapore in Kuala Lumpur with debutants punching above their weights, seasoned athletes delivering as expected and surprises in bowling, golf and cycling which gave everyone something to delight in. A best away medal haul and the second-best ever performance by Team Singapore at the SEA Games – this is one performance Singaporeans can be proud of.

“Overall, we are pleased with the efforts and performance of Team Singapore and glad that this has been a safe and successful outing. While the team did well, there were also improvements to be made and so we feel an A-minus grade is befitting. We hope their results at the 29th SEA Games will be an indication of bigger things to come.

“On behalf of the team, I would like to thank the organisers and the support team who have worked tirelessly to make this Games a success for us, and the boisterous fans from Singapore and in Malaysia for cheering us on to do well.”