SEA Games: What to expect at the 28th edition

Karen GEORGE

26 May 2015

updated the 6 October 2015 à 23:07

1/5
Football
Singapore's football team might not be World Cup material but it does nonetheless have its moments. The friendly cross border rivalry between Singapore and Malaysia will certainly have most Singaporeans tune in to watch the match. The Singapore Lions 3-1 victory over Kelantan recently, making them Malaysia FA Cup champs is sure to have boosted the morale of the squad and national spectators alike.
2/5
Swimming
Singapore's hopes for aquatic gold lies in the powerful strokes of Joseph Schooling who became the first Singaporean swimmer to win an Asian Games gold since Ang Peng Siong in 1982.
3/5
Floorball
This is the first time the sport will be played at the SEA Games. Introduced in Singapore in 1994, we have a good chance of scoring gold medals for this sport considering the men's floorball team are the reigning champions of Asia Pacific.
4/5
Water Polo
Yet another aquatic sporting event that will make Singaporeans proud is water polo. Singapore has constantly won gold medals ever since the sport was made a part of the games in 1965 and hopefully the team continues their winning streak this year.
5/5
Netball
Expect more Causeway rivalry for gold when Singapore meets Malaysia in the netball tournament. The last time the two countries met, Singapore had to settle for silver after loosing out to Malaysia in the 2001 finals in Kuala Lumpur.

Find out what’s going down and show your support for Singapore as the Lion City plays host to the South East Asian Games from 5-16 June.

Come 5-16 June, Singapore will be hosting the region’s most prestigious sporting event for the first time since 1993, that is the 28th edition of the South East Asian Games. The event is bound to be a grand one considering it coincides with the SG50 celebrations.

Organized by the Singapore Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee, the Games will host more than 7000 athletes and officials from 36 sports at the Singapore Sports Hub which will be the main venue for most of the games. The Singaporean representatives are the largest this year with a contingent numbering 749 and names that inspire confidence and visions of gold medals.

The expected sell-out crowd of more than 30,000 at the SEA Games Opening Ceremony on 5 June will get to witness history as the three-hour spectacle will boast the world’s largest projection system used in any sporting event to date.

The theme “Celebrate the Extraordinary” is certainly apt as we’ll be seeing an incredible display of sporting prowess in the fields of football, netball, squash, volleyball and the likes. With Singaporean athletes competing in almost every level of competitive sport, we are bound to bring home a respectable amount of shiny gold medals but there are certain fields of sport which have got us rooting for grand slam victories, and they’re in the areas of football, netball, floorball and swimming.

Even if you’re not a sports enthusiast, the SEA Games are a time to throw your support behind the national team and wear your patriotic pride on your sleeve. Below is one of the inspiring songs in the official repertoire of SEA Games songs to get you in the spirit!

Let the games begin!

Karen George

Photos: SEA Games 2015