SEA Games Singapore review: Shanti's double the obvious high, football debacle the definite low

SINGAPORE — This has been a rather unusual SEA Games - and it's not just because it is hosted by Cambodia for the very first time.

The fact that it was being held only a year after the previous edition already makes it unique among the 31 previous editions. Not to mention the host nation having an unusually successful Games, winning 65 golds (32 from the arcane martial art disciplines of kun Khmer, kun bocator and vovinam) to suddenly boost its all-time gold-medal haul from 94 to 159.

The sight of naturalised Cambodian athletes lifting their teams to unprecedented heights in sports such as basketball and cricket also gave an air of uneasy weirdness. Still, the regional sporting extravaganza breezed by without much of a major ripple in the global sporting context.

Team Singapore's performance was comparable to their recent results - a 51-gold harvest was better than last year's 47-gold effort in Hanoi, and similar to those in 2019 and 2017 (53 and 58 golds respectively while competing in more sports).

But there was also something unusual among the performances: for the first time in recent memory, there was an outright candidate for the top Singapore athlete, and there was also an undoubtable candidate for the most disappointing performance.

Shanti Pereira reaches glorious heights after overcoming setbacks

Let's start with the top athlete, who stood out even amid excellent outings by many fellow Singaporeans:

• The enduring brilliance of the Quah siblings - Ting Wen, Zheng Wen and Jing Wen - anchored Singapore's 22-gold, 15-silver, 10-bronze binge in swimming;

• The stunning debut of 16-year-old paddler Izaac Quek, winner of three out of the four table tennis golds;

• Fencing's record seven-gold effort demonstrated the depth of talents the sport has developed;

• The collective effort of the men's water polo team to regain the gold they lost in 2019.

All highly commendable efforts, but none have captured the public's imagination and admiration as the coronation of Singapore's Sprint Queen, Shanti Pereira, with her astonishing victories in the 100m and 200m races.

The fact that the 26-year-old was the first Singaporean female sprinter to do the golden double in one Games was already a massive achievement. But it was the manner in which she obliterated her rivals in both races that truly set her apart from the other Team Singapore athletes in Phnom Penh.

The 200m victory was mind-blowing, even though Pereira was the defending champion. A superb start gave her the momentum to accelerate through the bend, but she did not slack off, continuing to pull away from the field and winning by a considerable gap.

Gold, personal best, national record, SEA Games record - in a spectacular 22.69 seconds.

The 100m was more uncertain for Pereira, who had never won the race in four previous tries. Yet, she showed how far she has rebuilt her confidence after years of niggling injuries, as she overcame a tentative start to turn up her formidable acceleration and leave her rivals in the dust again for the monumental gold.

Two utterly convincing victories, earned after years of trying, years of overcoming self-doubt, and years of enduring snide remarks that she was a "has-been". Her overjoyed grin after each win was proof of how sweet and resounding her vindication was.

Pereira's journey from young talent to top sprinter in the region has not been as smooth-sailing as she would have liked. From suffering lengthy injuries, to being excluded from the Sports Excellence scholarship to dealing with a crisis of confidence just two years ago, her story is one of gritty determination to prove to herself that she has what it takes to reach the top.

And she finally did, to universal adoration from the Singapore public. From a wide-eyed teenage upstart when she won her first 200m gold in 2015, to a confident and matured competitor in 2023, Pereira may have taken to long and winding route to resounding success, but that is what makes her SEA Games feat so inspirational.

Undoubtedly, she is the Singapore athlete of the Cambodia Games.

Apathy, embarrassment at the state of Singapore football

Yet, just as Pereira's double-gold win had warmed the hearts of the Singapore public, the catastrophic performances of the Singapore men's football team have caused much consternation instead.

From predictable losses to gold-medal favourites Thailand and Vietnam, to a chastening draw against Laos, to the ultimate indignity of a 0-7 capitulation against arch-rivals Malaysia - the Young Lions' zero-win outing was easily the nadir of Team Singapore's performances in in Phnom Penh.

What was galling about this embarrassment was how much worse than expected it turned out to be. Singapore were not fancied to advance out of the group stage - Thailand and Vietnam were just far too good - yet the limp 0-0 draw with Laos was disappointing, and that thrashing by a gleeful Malaysian side proved to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.

The brickbats came in swift and furious, as social media was filled quickly with snide barbs and mocking memes condemning the local football community of their ineptitude. One comment even provoked an outburst from Bernard Tan, the acting president of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), who later apologised and admitted that the 0-7 defeat was "one of the worst nights in our history".

But more astute observers said the rot had already set in years ago, with the local football talent pool drying up and a series of managerial upheavals disrupting the development of young players.

Some painted an even bleaker picture, that there is growing apathy and cynicism among the general public, given Singapore football's lack of success in the past decade. Reviving the fortunes of Singapore football seems to be near-impossible without strong public support - and that is the reality facing a nation once proud of its roaring Lions.

FAS will of course undergo a review and ask "tough questions", as Tan said in the aftermath of the Malaysia rout. But more than tough questions, it should ask itself: does it have the will to see through its "Unleash the Roar!" project to revitalise Singapore football and qualify for the World Cup?

Because the long-term project just got much tougher to succeed after the SEA Games debacle. At no point in Singapore football history do the Lions seem further away from relevance, with every nation in the region catching up and overtaking the city-state in football success.

It would take a gargantuan will to succeed to drag Singapore football out of the doldrums. Could the nadir of this SEA Games provide the impetus for local football to climb out of its mediocrity?

Few would bet on it, although Shanti Pereira's success at the Games showed that a combination of iron will and astute decisions could lift an athlete from her lowest ebb. The football community has to do the same from here on.

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