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Independent Singapore
26-06-2025
- Sport
- Independent Singapore
Congratulations pour in as Soh Rui Yong gets nod to represent Singapore at 2025 SEA Games
SINGAPORE: After runner Soh Rui Yong excitedly announced on Tuesday (June 24) that Singapore Athletics had nominated him to represent the city-state at the 2025 SEA Games for the 10,000m and marathon events, many were quick to congratulate him. The 33rd Southeast Asian Games will be held in Thailand this year from Dec 9 to 20, in Bangkok and the provinces of Chonburi and Songkhla. 'The final selection decision will be made by the Singapore National Olympic Council, expected to be by the first week of September. I will then make a final decision on the events I will race thereafter. 'Thank you to Singapore Athletics for your support,' Soh wrote in a Facebook post, adding a screenshot of the email Singapore Athletics had sent him. Facebook Screenshot Singapore Athletics is the longstanding governing body for track and field in the city-state. Its purpose is to develop and promote Singapore's talents for track and field and other related events, such as cross-country, marathon, and race walking. The last time the SEA Games were held — in May 2023 in Cambodia — Singapore Athletics chose not to send any athletes for the marathon event. Soh had chosen to focus on shorter races in preparation for the competition and had suffered from a back and hip injury from July 2022 to January 2023, which prevented him from competing in a marathon during the qualifying window. Read related: Soh Rui Yong back with Team Singapore but not competing in marathon event at SEA Games However, Soh bagged the silver medal in the 10,000m final, setting a new national record of 31:10.70. But it was Soh's behaviour during the race that caught the public's attention. Indonesian runner Rikki Marthin Luther Simbolon, who eventually won the race with a time of 31:08.85, did not grab a bottle properly at the final water station of the race, but dropped it, not bothering to break his stride. Soh, who was on his heels, successfully reached for a cup and poured some water over his head. But seconds later, he passed the cup to Simbolon, who was then able to take a drink. 'Sporting, absolutely sporting,' the commentator can be heard praising Soh in the clip below. 'You cannot make that up. You cannot fake it either.' Many have congratulated Soh on this new development. 'Jiayou. Help Singapore get some medals!!! Do what you do best!' wrote one supporter. 'Congratulations. Proven results and no (one) can deny you the right to be selected and deny our country the best chance of bringing home a medal. Sincere congratulations. Do us proud,' chimed in another. 'All the best to your final call-up. Hope SNOC decided on you. We need a SEA games marathon gold medal again!' a third wished him. /TISG Read also: Soh Rui Yong bags silver in SEA games 10,000m final; wins more praise for sportsmanship after sharing water with Indonesian who took the gold
South China Morning Post
05-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Asian Games athletes to be housed on ‘floating village' cruise ship in Japan
Athletes at next year's Asian Games in Japan will stay on a 'floating village' cruise ship or in converted shipping containers, with organisers defending the cost-cutting move. Advertisement The plan will see 4,600 athletes and officials housed on the ship for the duration of the Games, which are being held in Nagoya and the wider Aichi area from September 19 to October 4. Organisers will lease a luxury cruise liner that will be docked at Nagoya's port. A further 2,400 people will stay in temporary shelters made from shipping containers a short bus ride away, with the two locations accommodating about half of the 15,000 athletes and officials expected at the 2026 Games. The rest will be in other accommodation, including in Tokyo where the swimming competition will take place. The 2022 Asian Games opening ceremony in Hangzhou, China. Photo: AFP Local organisers were keen to avoid the cost of building a traditional athletes' village, but Asian Olympic chiefs warned any alternative must make sure athletes can meet and mingle together.
Straits Times
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
Singapore's Vanessa Lee sets her second national record of 2025 by lowering steeplechase mark
Vanessa Lee has set a national record in the women's 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 11min 4.18sec at the Hong Kong Athletics Championships. PHOTO: ST FILE Singapore's Vanessa Lee sets her second national record of 2025 by lowering steeplechase mark SINGAPORE – Vanessa Lee's national record-breaking spree continues as she rewrote her own women's 3,000m steeplechase mark with a time of 11min 4.18sec to finish third at the Hong Kong Athletics Championships on May 10. She shaved almost five seconds off her previous best of 11:09.16 set at the 2024 Singapore Open, as she gets closer to Vietnamese Nguyen Thi Huong's 2023 SEA Games bronze-medal time of 11:00.85, which is also the qualifying mark for this year's SEA Games set by the Singapore National Olympic Council. Ahead of her, South Korea's Bohana Nbm won in 10:48.01 and Hong Kong's Tsang Hiu Tung was second in 11:01.52. Lee, 27, has been in fine form over the last couple of years. Besides the steeplechase mark, she also holds four other national records in the women's 10km road race (35:55), 10km cross country (40:21), mile (5:18.63) and 5,000m (17:06.69). Her 5,000m record was set at the Box Hill Run in Melbourne, Australia in March, obliterating her previous mark of 17:26.62 clocked in 2024. Lee had finished sixth in the women's 5,000m and seventh in the 10,000m at the 2023 SEA Games, but her women's 5,000m personal best is faster than Vietnamese Pham Thi Hong Le's silver-medal winning time of 17:06.72. Also at the Wan Chai Sports Ground, 21-year-old Elizabeth-Ann Tan broke sprint queen Shanti Pereira's national women's under-23 record in the 100m by a hundredth of a second when she won her semi-final in 11.72 to qualify for the final on May 11 as the second-fastest athlete behind Hong Kong's Chan Pui Kei, who won her semi-final in 11.70. Pereira had set the previous mark of 11.73 at the 2017 SEA Games and equalled the time at the 2018 Singapore Open, while Tan also clocked the same time at the 2025 Singapore Open in April. David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Forbes
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Legacy Hoped For Cricket In Japan Following 2026 Asian Games
India won the men's gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty ... More Images) AFP via Getty Images There is hope that permanent cricket infrastructure can be built in the outskirts of Nagoya in a determined effort to leave a legacy for the sport in baseball-crazy Japan after next year's Asian Games. In a recent announcement that provided widespread relief, cricket will be part of the multi-sports event held in Aichi-Nagoya following a decision by the Olympic Council of Asia and local organizing committee. As I first reported late last year, cricket faced exclusion due to the difficulty of finding suitable infrastructure for cricket - played on an oval-shaped ground compared to baseball's smaller diamond field - proved difficult. Forbes Cricket Faces Asian Games 2026 Exclusion Ahead Of Los Angeles Olympics By Tristan Lavalette The search had been far and wide, but it is learned that a couple of potential options to repurpose baseball stadiums were dismissed because the sites were too small. The Sano International Cricket Ground, the premier ground in the country, is deemed too far away being around 300 miles from Nagoya. A new site has been identified on the outskirts of Nagoya, believed to be about 30 minutes from downtown by transport and located near a train line. The vast park has three baseball fields and initial discussions have revolved around repurposing it into a permanent cricket ground. Japan have been part of the cricket competitions at the Asian Games previously (Photo by Jamie ...) Getty Images The Asian Cricket Council and local cricket administrators are determined for the Asian Games to leave a legacy in Nagoya and beyond. They are hoping to avoid a temporary stadium like what happened at last year's T20 World Cup in New York, which cost $30 million - as I first reported - but was bulldozed immediately after the event. Forbes New York Cricket Stadium Set To Cost $30 Million As Anticipation Builds For T20 World Cup By Tristan Lavalette A final decision will be made by the local organizing committee and is expected next month as is the exact number of teams for the T20 competitions. Only six teams per gender will be participating in the Los Angeles Olympics, but there is an expectation that a higher number will be allocated for the Asian Games. Cricket was played at the Asian Games in 2010, 2014 and 2023 where 15 men's teams and nine women's teams competed. Significantly India, the sport's financial power, participated having skipped in '10 and '14 and they won double gold in Hangzhou. India won the Asian Games in Hangzhou (Photo by Sun Fei/Xinhua via Getty Images) Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images Cricket's inclusion in the Asian Games is seen as vital for a sport, deemed by some metrics the second most popular in the world, trying to expand its traditional footprint beyond the British Commonwealth. It is also important for the growth of cricket in Japan, a nation long infatuated by the bat and ball sport of baseball which has some characteristics similar to cricket. "When I first came to Japan, it was clear that there was talent here - more than I expected," Japan Cricket Association head of operations Alan Curr told me in 2023. 'It's a conclusion people jump to that Japanese kids will be good at cricket because of baseball, but you do see it particularly in the fielding and throwing. They have good hand-eye coordination.' Forbes Having Once Suffered From A Cut In ICC Funding, Japan Is Aiming To Rise In Cricket By Tristan Lavalette Cricket had traditionally shunned multi-sports events, but that has changed over the past 15 years. As I reported late last year, cricket was a late inclusion for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games to be held in several cities in Thailand, including Bangkok, from December 9-20, 2025. The T20 and T10 formats will be played in the biennial multi-sport event that started in 1959 and features around a dozen nations.
