Skiers and snowboarders may be missing from Singapore’s biggest-ever winter sports contingent – comprising four skaters and 18 ice hockey players – at the ongoing Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, but the Singapore Snowboarding and Skiing Association (SSSA) is hoping this will change.
SSSA president Low Teo Ping told The Straits Times that the national sports association (NSA) aims to assemble a database of Singaporeans based overseas and who have been consistently training and competing, in the hope of having representatives at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
“We know there are Singaporeans who ski competitively out there in the world … for the moment, we have to rely on this talent overseas and suss them out to see what level they are at, and try to work out some training schedules for them wherever they are,” said Low, who is also president of the Singapore Rugby Union and one of the vice-presidents of the Singapore National Olympic Council.
The SSSA launched its website late last month as a major component of its recruitment efforts, and its secretary Kaori Zage stressed that the NSA is seeking serious Singaporean skiers and snowboarders who have been training with a club or coach.
“With the next two Winter Olympic Games held in Asia, we think it would be a great time to identify a skier or snowboarder from Singapore,” she said.
“But there’s a minimum performance level that everyone has to achieve … we want to make sure that anyone who represents Singapore isn’t going to be someone who only skis once in a while.”
Zage, who is also vice-president of the freestyle disciplines and ex-vice-president of the Singapore Ice Skating Association, revealed the NSA had turned down offers from German and Austrian athletes who wanted to change their nationalities to represent Singapore in skiing and snowboarding.
While Low and Zage admitted it is unlikely that a local skier or snowboarder will don national colours at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, both are hopeful that Singapore will be represented in skiing and snowboarding at the Beijing Games.
Zage said four athletes based overseas but who could potentially represent the Republic – three in Switzerland and one in Italy – have reached out to the SSSA.
According to Zage, among them are siblings aged 13 and 17, whose mother is Singaporean and father is Swiss. The pair, who both hold Singaporean and Swiss passports, are on a regional ski team in Switzerland and are sponsored by Austrian ski company Blizzard.
Zage added: “There are kids like that, but I think more people will come forward. We hope to reach out to as many people as possible through our website.”
cnicole@sph.com.sg
Visit sssa.org.sg for more information.
Cheyenne happy with Winter Games debut
Local short-track speed skater Cheyenne Goh may have fallen short of the B final in her first event on her Asian Winter Games (AWG) debut yesterday, but the 17-year-old was pleased with her performance.
She featured in the second of three semi-finals in the women’s 1,500m. She posted a time of 2min 53.343sec to finish last among five competitors, including eventual silver and bronze medallists Shim Suk Hee of South Korea and Guo Yihan of China respectively.
Cheyenne told The Straits Times that while she knew she had a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals, she was unsure of how she ranked among her rivals, and had been hoping to “advance at least once” in Sapporo, Japan.
Having met that target, she said: “I’m quite happy (with my result) because the girls in the semis were stronger than me, and I think I did the best that I could have.
“But I definitely need to get stronger – there’s a lot of work I have to do to catch up and reach that level, like working on my technique and endurance so I can keep up with them.”
The Grade 12 student at Leduc Composite High School in Alberta, Canada said she was enjoying her first outing at a major meet, naming the chance to meet athletes across more sports as a highlight.
She said: “The atmosphere is quite different from the other tournaments that I’ve attended, like the World Cup and Junior World Cup.
“This makes me look forward to racing at the SEA Games, and hopefully doing well there.”
This year’s SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 19 to 31 will feature winter sports for the first time.
Singapore Ice Skating Association president Sonja Chong praised Cheyenne’s debut performance as “a milestone and inspiration for the female short-track team”.
She added: “She has already met our internal qualification for the 2017 SEA Games but as with all other sports, we still need to meet the Singapore National Olympic Council’s (SNOC) qualifying mark, and for SNOC to approve (our nomination).”
Cheyenne, who last year became the first female Singaporean to qualify for next month’s ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, will compete in the 500m today and the 1,000m tomorrow.
In the men’s 1,500m competition yesterday, Singapore’s Lucas Ng finished fourth in his heat in 2:47.061 and did not qualify for the semi-finals. He will also feature in both the 500m and 1,000m races today and tomorrow.
This article was first published on Feb 21, 2017.
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