WEEKLY ROUND-UP: Sports happenings in Singapore (12-18 Jun)

SINGAPORE — Here is a round-up of sports events and developments in Singapore in the past week (12 to 18 June):

Farhanna Farid breaks powerlifting world record en route to gold

Singapore powerlifter Farhanna Farid recorded her sixth world record in the women's Under-52kg division, with a 203kg deadlift that won her the gold medal at the World Open Classic Powerlifting Championships in Malta on 11 June.

The 30-year-old was battling a back injury for the past two months, but still managed to regain the world record from New Zealand's Evie Corrigan, who had registered a 202.5kg deadlift effort at the Sheffield Powerlifting Championships in March.

The three-time Asian champion pipped Corrigan to the deadlift world record, and registered 127.5kg in the squat and 70kg in the bench press to finished with a total 400.5kg, good for eighth out of 24 competitors. Corrigan was first with a world-record total of 460kg.

Farhanna's compatriot Koh Xin Miao won a surprise bronze medal for Singapore on his world championships debut, pulling off a 245kg effort in the men's U-66kg squat to rank behind Japan's Kyota Ushiyama and France's Tarinidis Panagiotis.

Singapore win 1st archery gold at Asia Cup since 2020

National archers Contessa Loh and Eer Jiang Ying landed Singapore's first gold medal at the Archery Asia Cup since 2020, claiming the compound mixed team gold at Bukit Gombak Stadium on 10 June.

The duo narrowly defeated Malaysia's Juwaidi Mazuki and Fatin Nurfatehah 156-154 in the final, with Eer hitting a 10 in his final shot to seal the victory, after qualifying for the bracket stages as only the seventh-best out of 15 teams.

Loh, who had won gold in the women's individual compound back in 2020, was also part of the women's compound team which finished fourth hours before the mixed team final.

This was the first time in 20 years that Singapore have hosted a stage of the Asia Cup. The Stage Three event saw more than 200 participants from 22 teams.

Christian Ho wins 1st F4 race of the year in Spain

A year after making the step up to Formula Four racing, Singaporean driver Christian Ho clinched his first F4 win at the F4 Spanish Championship at the MotorLand Aragon circuit on 28 May.

Starting in pole position, Ho dominated the race as he led 31 other cars from start to finish, and did well to keep Campos Racing teammate Enzo Deligny at bay. He claimed the chequered flag in 28min 13.728sec, 2.757sec ahead of Deligny. Theophile Nael of Sainteloc Racing completed the podium.

After making the switch from MP Motorsports to Campos Racing this year, Ho has finished on the podium in four of six races to establish himself as an early contender for the F4 championship. He is now third of 34 competitors in the drivers’ championship with 73 points, behind MP Motorsport’s Pedro Clerot (82 points) and Nael (74).

The next round will take place on 24 and 25 June at the circuit of Navarra in Spain, followed by Jerez, another circuit in Spain, in September. The series then moves to Portugal at the end of September before returning to Spain for the last two rounds in Valencia and Barcelona.

Lions draw Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands

The Singapore national football team played two international friendlies at the National Stadium last week, winning one and drawing the other against Oceania sides.

On Friday (16 June), the Lions played Papua New Guinea to a 2-2 draw, with all the goals coming in the first half. Midfielder Adam Swandi opened accounts in the 22nd minute, heading home following a corner by Hafiz Nor.

The Papuans, who are ranked a spot below the 158th-ranked Singapore in the Fifa world rankings, equalised in the 42nd minute with a stinging shot from outside the box by Ati Kepo.

The Lions regained the lead a minute later, when Shawal Anuar deftly lobbed the ball over Papuan goalkeeper Ronald Warisan. However, the visitors equalised again on the stroke of half time, when a clearance by Shakir Hamzah was deflected into goal by Raymond Gunemba.

On Sunday, Singapore faced the 134th-ranked Solomon Islands, and while they put up an improved performance, they still could not get the victory, settling for a 1-1 draw. .

Again, the hosts took the lead via a corner routine in the 31st minute, as Shawal reacted quickest to Irfan Najeeb's header to slam home from point-blank range.

However, despite dominating possession, Singapore were unable to put their opponents away, and Solomon Islands captain Joses Mawo stunned the home crowd in the 84th minute when his long-range shot curled past goalkeeper Syazwan Buhari.

Loh Kean Yew, Yeo Jia Min fall in Indonesia Open last-16

Singapore shuttlers Loh Kean Yew and Yeo Jia Min were both knocked out in the round-of-16 stage of the prestigious Indonesia Open on Thursday (15 June).

Loh faced reigning All England champion Li Shifeng of China in his last-16 tie, and despite leading in both games, the former world champion blew hot and cold before succumbing 19-21, 14-21 for his first loss in five matches with Li.

Yeo faced former world champion Carolina Marin of Spain, and despite a valiant effort, she narrowly lost out to the veteran in two tight games, 24-26, 21-23, in the 60-minute clash.

Singapore's women's doubles pair of Jin Yujia and Crystal Wong were eliminated in the round of 32 on Wednesday, losing to Thailand's Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai 9-21, 8-21.

Lion City Sailors start initiative to support disadvantaged youth

Singapore Premier League club Lion City Sailors and Tasek Football Academy announce the formation of Tasek Sailors, a partnership to uplift lives of disadvantaged youth.

The initiative will deliver high-level football training tied to a comprehensive personal mentorship programme - giving disadvantaged boys and girls the holistic support to grow both as individuals and footballers.

Tasek Football Academy is the flagship programme under Tasek Jurong, a social service agency and charity. The Tasek Sailors will also act as Lion City Sailors’ corporate social responsibility arm while driving Tasek Jurong’s football initiatives.

The partnership, which began in western Singapore last year, is already showing promising results, with 15-year-old Sarrvin Raj graduating from Tasek Football Academy into the Sailors Academy’s Elite U-17 squad.

Tasek Sailors will also be organising the a charity football fundraiser on 25 June at the Lion City Sailors Training Centre, to rally corporations and the football fraternity to support the initiative.

SCF launches 2nd edition of Cycle For Hope campaign

The Singapore Cycling Federation (SCF) launched the second edition of Cycle For Hope campaign on Saturday (17 June) to raise funds for the Singapore Cancer Society (SCS), as well as SCF’s high performance programmes and its children academy.

The campaign commenced with a cycling challenge event (100km, 300km or 500km to be completed indoors and/or outdoors) over a seven-week period between 17 June and 20 August, to create cancer awareness and to raise a target of $300,000.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and Sustainability and the Environment, Baey Yam Keng, was the guest-of-honour at the campaign launch, which also saw about 70 attendees, including corporate donors, individual donors, as well as staff members of Sport Singapore, Singapore Sports Hub and SCS.

Free sessions to commemorate International Yoga Day

To commemorate International Yoga Day on Wednesday (21 June), yoga enthusiasts and newbies are invited to join one of three free yoga sessions held by PURE Yoga. The "108 minutes of Sun Salutations" will be held at 7am, 12pm and 5:30pm at Suntec Plaza, with each session led by three instructors and taking a maximum of 50 participants.

The event aims to promote wellness and mindfulness through the completion of 108 minutes of Sun Salutations - a yoga practice that incorporates a flow sequence of 12 asanas, or positions.

Participants will be guided by experienced PURE Yoga instructors to complete the practice, and will receive a certificate of completion to commemorate their achievement. They will also each receive an exclusive goodie bag filled with wellness essentials.

All sessions are free, and members of the public can register via Health Promotion Board’s Healthy 365 app.

Youth paddlers win five golds at regional competition

Singapore's national youth paddlers won five golds, four silvers and five bronzes at the 2023 Southeast Asia Youth Brunei Table Tennis Championships, held in Bandar Seri Begawan from 13 to 18 June. Over 180 paddlers from nine Southeast Asian countries took part. Here are the medallists:

Gold medals: Loy Ming Ying (U15 girls' singles), Ser Lin Qian (U19 girls' singles), Ellsworth Le/Zhou Jinghe (U15 boys' doubles), Eudora Lee/Loy Ming Ying (U15 girls' doubles), Ser Lin Qian/Nicholas Tan (U19 mixed doubles).

Silver medals: Matthew Ellis (U17 boys' singles), Chloe Lai (U19 girls' singles), U15 boys' and girls' teams.

Bronze medals: Loy Xing Yao (U19 boys' singles), Jayden Tan/Loy Xing Yao (U19 boys' doubles), Eudora Lee/Zhou Jinghe (U19 mixed doubles), U19 boys' and girls' teams.

HYROX to make debut on 7 October at National Stadium

Fitness racing world series HYROX will make its debut in Southeast Asia on 7 October with a mass-participation indoor race at the Singapore National Stadium.

Over 70 per cent of slots have been snapped up since registration opened two weeks ago, with over 4,000 participants and 2,000 spectators expected at the event.

HYROX combines both running and functional workout stations, where participants run 1km and do 1 functional workout station. This is then repeated eight times. The eight stations are the SkiErg, Sled Push, Sled Pull, Burpee Broad Jumps, Rowing, Farmers Carry, Sandbag Lunges and Wall Balls.

There are four race categories - singles open (men/women), singles pro (men/women), doubles (men/women/mixed) and relay (men/women/mixed).

To help participants in Singapore prepare for the race, popular fitness franchise Body Fit Training (BFT) has also come on board as the official HYROX training centre. It will be adding HYROX-specific training programmes to their weekly programming at all open studios.

Registration is open, and participants have to be at least 16 years old to register.

Driver line-up for Goodstock SpeedFest unveiled

The inaugural Goodstock SpeedFest 2023 from 11 to 13 August will feature a mixture of familiar and new faces for motor racing fans in Singapore, after organisers unveiled an exceptional line-up of drivers, including top INEX Series drivers Donovan Strauss and Garett Gumm as well as former NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Akinori Ogata.

They will be joined by Singapore drivers Denis Lian and Jonathan Xie at the event, which will be raced around a temporary 400m oval track at the Changi Exhibition Centre for the top prize of $100,000.

Rising stars will also be at the forefront of the event, with drivers as young as 13 years old showcasing their skills in Singapore such as Australian Lachlan Ward, who has won state and national titles of the Australian Legend Cars championship.

The final two days of the Goodstock SpeedFest will be headlined by the Sundown Festival, which is renowned for its diverse line-up and dedication to spotlight the best of Asian music and culture. Mandopop singer-songwriter Jam Hsiao will be rocking the Sundown Festival stage, and he will be joined by the likes of Bling Empire’s DJ Kim Lee, Malaysian rapper Namewee, as well as Singapore’s Iman Fandi, Glenn Yong and Tosh Rock.

Tickets for the Goodstock SpeedFest are on general sale now via Ticketmaster Singapore.

F1 Grand Tour of Singapore to rev up excitement

The Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix has embarked on a Grand Tour of Singapore with a slew of complimentary race-themed activities to rev up excitement in the heartlands for the night race.

The #SingaporeGP Truck will be making its way across the island until September, and will feature popular F1 racing simulators as well as a new range of games that will challenge players’ precision and reflexes. Residents can also look forward to a Grand Tour Festival in the heartlands in the lead-up to the night race, which will feature even more exciting interactive F1-themed activities.

Catch free live F1 race screenings of their qualifying sessions and races of the various F1 grands prix from July to September, courtesy of beIN Sports, at various locations around the island including Bugis+ and One Punggol.

In partnership with the National Library Board, "The Beginner’s Guide to Singapore GP" will feature talks by personnel involved in different aspects of the race, including a Singaporean engineer working with the Williams Racing F1 team, an operations director from Singapore GP, and a volunteer race marshal.

Fans will also be able to sign up for free guided behind-the-scenes tours of the F1 Pit Building on 19 and 20 August. The Pit Lane Experience will also return on 14 September, with 4,000 residents getting the unique opportunity to take a walk down the Pit Lane and see the F1 team garages up close. Those interested can ballot for a pair of passes from 1st July.

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