WEEKLY ROUND-UP: Sports happenings in Singapore (17-23 Apr)

SINGAPORE — Here is a round-up of sports events and developments in Singapore in the past week (17 to 23 April):

Two new grandstands for F1 Singapore GP

Two new grandstands will be introduced at the Marina Bay Street Circuit for this year's Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix, which will be held from 15 to 17 September.

The additional grandstands will also mitigate the overall reduction in capacity due to the closure of the Bay Grandstand as part of the redevelopment of The Float@Marina Bay.

Race promoter Singapore GP said in a media release on Monday (17 April) that 12 ticket categories have already sold out or are selling fast.

Limited seats are available at two new grandstands – the Sheares (Turn 1) and Promenade (between Turns 17 & 18) Grandstands, along with the Pit Entry Grandstand (Turn 19). The grandstands will provide ticketholders access to all zones in the Circuit Park, and are priced from $1,188.

Limited single-day Zone 4 and Premier Walkabout tickets, priced from $128, have also been released for sale. All walkabout ticketholders will have access to strategically located viewing bleachers within the Marina Bay Street Circuit as well as the entertainment in Zone 4.

Tickets can be purchased from www.singaporegp.sg and via authorised ticketing partners. Fans are recommended to follow @F1nightrace on social media for the latest updates.

SEA Games provisional men's football squad named

Singapore Under-22 men’s national team head coach Philippe Aw has named a provisional squad of 25 players for the upcoming SEA Games in Cambodia.

Most of the players are undergoing a local centralised training camp in preparation for the tournament. A final squad of 20 players will be named ahead of the team’s departure on Friday (28 April 2023.

While teams could call up a maximum of three overaged players in previous Games editions, this year’s tournament will solely be a Under-22 tournament.

SEA Games squad - Goalkeepers: Aizil Yazid, Wayne Chew, Umayr Sujuandy. Defenders: Nur Adam, Adam Reefdy, Aqil Yazid , Bill Mamadou, Ilhan Noor, Raoul Suhaimi, Ryaan Sanizal, Kieran Teo. Midfielders: Ajay Robson, Amir Syafiz, Andrew Aw, Fairuz Fazli, Fathullah Rahmat, Jared Gallagher, Iman Hakim, Elijah Lim, Ong Yu En, Harhys Stewart. Forwards: Jordan Emaviwe, Abdul Rasaq, Nicky Singh, Syahadat Masnawi.

U-16 women's football team bid to qualify for U-17 Asian Cup

The Under-16 women’s national team will begin their AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup Indonesia 2024 qualifying campaign in Singapore this week, after being drawn into Group D of the regional tournament.

They will face Turkmenistan on Friday (28 April) before playing Bangladesh two days later, with both matches at Jalan Besar Stadium. The United Arab Emirates have withdrawn from the tournament.

Head Coach Falida Aikaterini has named a 23-player squad, consisting of players who were selected through their performances in last month’s Japan-ASEAN U-17 women football tournament, and their respective clubs during last season’s Deloitte Women’s Premier League and Women’s National League.

Four players – Anna Vaswani, Mulan Ayliffe, Nisreen Aziz and Syarifah Nur Amanina – will be representing Singapore for the first time at the age-group level. Defender Irsalina Irwan - who already has three national senior caps - has also been added to the squad.

Ticket sales for both Women's Asian Cup qualifiers can be purchased via the Football Association of Singapore's website.

The AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup will be held in Indonesia next year. Singapore’s only previous involvement at the tournament came in the inaugural edition in 2005.

Tampines remain unbeaten after 2-0 win over DPMM

Tampines Rovers moved to one point behind leaders Albirex Niigata (Singapore) in the Singapore Premier League (SPL), following a 2-0 victory over Brunei's DPMM FC at Jalan Besar Stadium on Thursday (20 April).

Both goals came in the opening 10 minutes. In the eighth minute, Tampines midfielder Ong Yu En's speculative long-range shot took a big deflection off Yura Indera Putera to nestle in the top right corner of the net.

Barely two minutes later, Stags captain Yasir Hanapi took a pass from Glenn Kweh from the left flank, and let fly a stinging low drive from just outside the box, which crept in past Haimie Abdullah in his near post.

With the victory, Tampines remain the only unbeaten side after the first round of eight SPL matches, with six wins and two draws.

Certis renews partnership with SDSC

Certis has renewed its partnership with the Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) to continue promoting active lifestyle among people with disabilities.

The renewed programme, called “Dare to Dream 2.0”, will comprise two key components - Goalball29, aimed at developing the next generation of national goalball players, as well as the Certis Superheroes Challenge. To enable these two initiatives within the partnership, Certis will be donating $30,000 towards the cause.

Goalball29 is a new programme to raise a new national goalball team when Singapore hosts the ASEAN Para Games in 2029, and will entail a series of learn-to-play goalball programmes held island-wide. SDSC hopes to be able to reach at least 120 youths with visual impairments through the new programme.

The Certis Superheroes Challenge comprises a combination of physical and mental profiling tools to match persons with disabilities to suitable sports and help them get active and healthy. This year, Certis will be bringing the activations to selected special education schools in Singapore.

Certis also aims to recruit at least 80 volunteers across the organisation for “Dare to Dream 2.0”, serving either as play buddies for Goalball29, pairing up with the youths to learn and challenge each other in the sport of goalball, or to be facilitators for the Certis Superheroes Challenge.

Desaru Coast Multisport Festival to be held in May

This year's Desaru Coast Multisport Festival presented by Ironman is set to welcome athletes from over 50 countries from 12 to 14 May. It will be hosting the Ironkids Triathlon, Sprint Triathlon, 5150 Triathlon and Ironman 70.3 Desaru Coast over the three days.

This year's festival will also see the introduction of its version of "adrenalin golf" on the rolling greens of the Ocean Course at The Els Club. It will also feature the MILOxWavvy Hub surfskate clinic, where daily lessons for all ages will be held to learn surfskating in a safe and fun environment.

To make commuting more convenient, Desaru Coast will have a special ferry service throughout the festival period from Singapore's Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal. To enjoy the special return ferry offer of $105, use the code ‘DCMS2023’ while booking the ferry tickets.

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