After being elected yesterday for her fourth and final term as president of the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA), Ellen Lee pledged to press on with plans to develop a pipeline of local talent to represent Singapore at major Games.
At last year's SEA Games in the Philippines, the Republic's men's team of Ethan Poh, Clarence Chew and debutants Koen Pang and Josh Chua were the first all-Singaporean born men's team to compete at the biennial competition since 1997.
Pang went on to win the men's singles title at the Subic Bay Exhibition & Convention Centre while teammate Lin Ye took home the women's singles gold. Vietnam and Thailand captured the men's and women's doubles golds respectively.
Lee, 63, said yesterday: "Our plans to groom more local talents into world-class athletes are starting to bear fruit."
After fending off the challenge from Toh Kian Lam, a former national youth paddler, in 2018 - the first time in at least 10 years that the leadership of the sport was contested - Lee was re-elected unopposed at yesterday's virtual biennial general meeting.
There were seven newcomers in the 19-member committee, including newly elected MP Poh Li San (Sembawang GRC), who will serve at one of two deputy presidents alongside Teo Nam Meng.
Poh, a vice-president of Changi Airport Group, said: "I will do my best to serve the table tennis fraternity and I look forward to working with Ellen and other management committee members for the development of the sport."
Also on Lee's agenda is a plan to improve communications with national athletes and their parents - an STTA app will be introduced - and enhance the association's governance compliance with policy rules.
She noted: "I am very happy that the several new members joining us in this new term will bring in fresh perspectives and ideas.
"With the plans and proposals my team has planned, I believe that table tennis... will attract more new players, more fans and (utilise the) ease of communications to spread news quickly.
"We are very excited about the opportunities ahead of us and we look forward to bringing more sporting glory for Singapore."
