Team Singapore To Compete In Seven Sports At The Inaugural Asian Beach Games

Team Singapore is all set to fly the Singapore flag high at the inaugural Asian Beach Games, which will be held from 18 to 26 October 2008 in Bali, Indonesia. Singapore will be fielding a contingent of 36 athletes, who will be competing in seven sports - Beach Basketball, Beach Pencak Silat, Bodybuilding, Sailing, Triathlon, Windsurfing and Woodball. The contingent will be led by Chef de Mission, Mahipal Singh, who is the Assistant Director, Coaching Development Department, High Performance Group at the Singapore Sports Council.

Team Singapore will be featuring a good mix of emerging and established athletes, including Singapore's top Silat extraordinaire, Muhammad Razif and Syariff Hidayatullah, both ranked first in the world in their respective events Tanding Class H & Ganda. They will be part of the silat team. The sailing team is taking the opportunity to field some of its brightest young sailors at the Asian Beach Games, such as 13-year-old Mark Wong, who is also the youngest athlete in the contingent. (Please refer to Annex A for the full contingent list)

"The Asian Beach Games provides an ideal platform for our athletes to gain first hand experience competing in a multi-sport regional competition. For our young athletes, some of whom are taking part in a regional competition for the first time, this competition will be a stepping-stone for them and the experience they gained here will put them in good stead for future competitions. This is especially for the sports that will be taking part in the upcoming 2009 SEA Games in Laos. For our veteran athletes, this is a good opportunity for them to continue to hone their skills by competing against some of the best athletes in the region," said Chef De Mission, Mahipal Singh.

The inaugural Asian beach Games will see over 4000 athletes and officials from 45 countries and regions converging on the island of Bali to compete for the top honours in 17 sports - Beach Handball, Beach Kabaddi, Beach Pencak Silat, Beach Sepaktakraw, Beach Soccer, Beach Volleyball, Beach Wrestling, Body Building, Dragonboat Racing, Jet-ski Sport, Marathon Swimming, Paragliding, Sailing, Surfing, Triathlon, Windsurfing and Woodball. The events will be taking place in several venues around Bali, namely Sanur, Nusa Dua, Benoa, Jimbaran and Kuta.

The official send-off for Team Singapore contingent will take place on Thursday, 16 October 2008. For more details on Team Singapore at the Asian Beach Games, please visit www.teamsingapore.sg.