Team Singapore To Complete In Six Sports At The 3rd Asian Indoor Games In Hanoi

Team Singapore To Complete In Six Sports At The 3rd Asian Indoor Games In Hanoi

Singapore, 27 October 2009 - Team Singapore is all set to fly the Singapore flag high at the 3rd Asian Indoor Games, which will be held from 30 October to 8 November 2009 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Singapore will be fielding a contingent of 39 athletes, who will be competing in six events - Bowling, Cuesports, Dancesport, Indoor Petanque, Silat and Xiangqi. Vincent Eu, Assistant Director, Major Games Preparations, Sports Development Group, Singapore Sports Council, will be leading the Team Singapore contingent to the event as the Chef de Mission.

2. Team Singapore will be featuring a good mix of emerging and established athletes, including 1st Asian Youth Games Singapore 2009 Gold medalist kegler Basil Low and Singapore's top silat extraordinaire, Mohamad Saifullah Mohamad Julaimi and Nur Zulaikha Zakaria. (Please refer to Annex A for the full contingent list)

3. The Petanque and Silat teams are taking this opportunity to field their athletes who will also be heading to the 25th South-east Asian (SEA) Games in Laos at the end of the year. A total of 17 SEA Games athletes will be using the third instalment of the Asian Indoor Games as an opportunity to hone their skills by competing against some of the top athletes in the region prior to the SEA Games. The Pentanque team will also feature the contingent's youngest athlete, 14-year-old Nur Izzati Ismail.

4. "The Asian Indoor Games provides an ideal platform for athletes in sports that are not featured in the four major Games to gain first-hand experience competing in a regional multi-sport event. For our young athletes, some of whom are taking part in a regional competition for the first time, the Asian Indoor Games will be a stepping-stone for them and the experience they gain here will put them in good stead for future competitions. We are confident that Team Singapore will strive to do their best to fly the Singapore flag high at the 3rd Asian Indoor Games in Hanoi," said Chef de Mission Vincent Eu.

5. The 3rd Asian Indoor Games will see athletes and officials from 45 National Olympic Committees converging in Hanoi to compete for the top honours in 20 sports - Athletics, Aquatics, Dancesport, Indoor Petanque, Women?s Defence, Shuttlecock, Hoop Sepaktakraw, Indoor Kabaddi, Kurash, E-sports, Indoor Archery, Aerobics Gymnastics, Pencak Silat, Chess, Futsal, 3-on-3 Basketball, Martial Arts, Billiard Sports, Dragon & Lion Dance and Bowling. In addition to Hanoi, the sports events will also be taking place in Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong City, Back Ninh, Quang Ninh and Hai Duong provinces. For more details on the Asian Indoor Games, please visit http://www.vaigoc2009.com.

Annex A

3rd Asian Indoor Games Vietnam 2009 - Contingent List

For media enquiries, please contact:

Hazwani Hasni Executive, Marketing Communications
Singapore Sports Council
DID: 6500 5246
Mobile: 9272 0112
Email: Hazwani_hasni@ssc.gov.sg

About the Singapore National Olympic Council
The Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) is the national nonprofit organisation that coordinates the selection of Singaporean athletes for competition at the major games such as the Olympics, the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games and the South East Asian Games. Singapore's involvement in the Games is resolutely anchored in the Olympic ideals that were first espoused by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, in 1894. For more information, please visit www.snoc.org.sg.

About Singapore Sports Council
The Singapore Sports Council (SSC) is Singapore's lead agency tasked with developing sports in Singapore. Our vision is to create a Sporting Singapore where Sports is a way of life. The SSC aims to develop sports champions and create enjoyable sporting experiences for Singapore through the three strategic thrusts of cultivating a sporting culture, achieving sports excellence and creating a vibrant sports industry. Formed on 1 October 1973, SSC is a statutory board under the umbrella of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports. Please visit the SSC website at www.ssc.gov.sg for more information.