WEEKLY ROUND-UP: Sports happenings in Singapore (30 Oct-5 Nov)

SINGAPORE — Here is a round-up of sports events and developments in Singapore in the past week (30 October to 5 November):

Tampines beat Geylang to be in driver's seat

Tampines Rovers defeated Geylang International 3-1 in their Singapore Cup Group A match at Our Tampines Hub on Saturday (4 November), and set up a winner-takes-all match against Albirex Niigata (Singapore) later this month.

Goals from Saifullah Akbar (34th minute), Milos Zlatkovic (49th) and Joel Chew (57th) - with Takahiro Tezuka (39th) scoring for Geylang - gave the Stags the win which puts them second in the group behind Brunei's DPMM FC. A draw in their final match against Albirex will see Tampines advance into the semi-finals at the Singapore Premier League champions' expense.

DPMM have secure their passage into the semi-finals after a 1-0 win over the Young Lions at Jalan Besar Stadium on Saturday. Farshad Noor scored the winning goal in the 30th minute.

Riyadh Hakim wins bronze in Asian Mountain Bike C'ships

Singapore mountain biker Riyadh Hakim clinched a bronze medal in the cross-country eliminator event at the Asian Mountain Bike Championships in Kerala, India, on Sunday (29 November).

The 24-year-old had won the event back in 2019, before turning full-time and claiming a podium spot at the UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Cup in Barcelona in September.

Riyadh had also finished ninth out of 17 riders at the recent Hangzhou Asian Games in the cross-country Olympic, which is the only cross-country discipline in the Olympic programme.

Basketball Association of Singapore appoints Leon Neo as CEO

The Basketball Association of Singapore (BAS) announced on Wednesday (1 November) the appointment of Leon Neo as its new chief executive officer, being seconded from Sport Singapore (SportSG) for a two-year term.

Neo has over 20 years of experience working in both the public service and the private sector. He has been with SportSG for more than a decade, collaborating with various national sports associations to advise them on their multi-year sports plans and funding matters.

The 47-year-old is tasked to help BAS strengthen its governance and financial capabilities, as he replaces previous CEO James Soh.

Founder of Netball Singapore Tan Yoon Yin dies aged 94

Tan Yoon Yin, the founder and first president of the Singapore Women’s Netball Association - now known as Netball Singapore - has died at the age of 94 on Tuesday (31 October).

A former physical education teacher, Tan set up the netball association in 1962 after noticing sports was not popular among the young, especially schoolgirls and women.

She pushed for netball to be recognised as an extra-curricular activities sport in the Ministry of Education’s physical education curriculum and was honoured by the ministry in 2014.

Netball Singapore paid tribute to Tan in a Facebook post, saying, “We honour Mrs Tan Yoon Yin for her unwavering commitment to empowering women through netball and for fostering a sense of unity and camaraderie within our netball family. Her impact on the sport will forever be cherished.”

Last large-scale sports event at The Cage Sports Park

The annual SingaCup youth football tournament is being held from 4 to 11 November, and will be a landmark occasion as it will be the last large-scale sporting event hosted at The Cage Sports Park at Turf City, before the land is repurposed for development. It will also be played at The Rainforest Sports Hub.

The tournament will feature both boys’ and girls’ teams across age categories from Under-8 to Under-18, with the U-8 and U-10 age groups participating in a seven-a-side format, the U-12s competing in a nine-a-side contest, and the U-14 and above age groups competing in 11-a-side format.

Ng Tiong Hian, business development manager of tournament organiser Dynamique Konzepts, said that there will be over 130 teams participating for the 13th edition of SingaCup. They involve teams from nine nations - Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Singapore GP pushes forward 2024 F1 race ticket sales

Singapore GP, race promoter for the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix, has started sales of regular-priced tickets for the 2024 edition on Wednesday (1 November) - earlier than originally planned - after early-bird tickets were sold out a month ahead of the end of the promotion.

Sales across all hospitality categories have also been equally strong, with dedicated suites at the Formula 1 Paddock Club, Sky Suite, and Lounge@Turn 3 for next year’s race almost fully taken up.

All tickets to the 2024 F1 Singapore Grand Prix provide access to the concerts at the Padang Stage in Zone 4. Priced from $128 for a single-day ticket and $348 for a three-day pass, official tickets can be purchased from www.singaporegp.sg and via authorised ticketing partners.

Multi-sports classes booking platform goes live

LyfeGo, Singapore’s first multi-sports classes booking platform, went live last week and offers access to over 150 sports classes by sports academies in Singapore.

The platform boasts a comprehensive selection of sports classes, including tennis, golf, badminton, table tennis and pickleball. It allows users to search for classes based on location, date, time and sport type.

To celebrate its launch, LyfeGo is offering a 14-day free trial for all new users until 1 December.

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