Badminton chief Lawrence Leow appointed Singapore’s chef de mission for SEA Games

SINGAPORE – With the Dec 9-20 SEA Games to bookend a busy year of sports milestones and triumphs, Singapore will field its largest contingent in Games history when over 900 athletes compete across 48 sports in Thailand.

And the contingent will be led by a team of veteran sports administrators and former national athletes, with the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) announcing on Oct 29 that Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) president Lawrence Leow will serve as the Republic’s chef de mission for the biennial event.

The 66-year-old, who is one of three SNOC vice-presidents, will be aided by three assistant chefs de mission.

They are deputy chief of Sport Singapore Ng Eng Soon, 62, former national women’s team rugby captain and head coach Wang Shao Ing, 48, – who is currently deputy director and team lead at the Safe Sport Commission – and two-time SEA Games squash gold medallist Samuel Kang, 35.

Describing Leow as a “respected sports leader and experienced administrator”, SNOC said in a media statement that he will lead Team Singapore as they compete in the region, “ensuring that the contingent are well prepared and supported throughout the Games”.

The SNOC added that the quartet, who are taking on the roles for the first time, will guide and support the athletes and officials, fostering a positive and high-performance environment for Team Singapore.

Leow, who is the chairman and chief executive of Crescendas Group, has been president of the SBA since 2018.

He said: “The SEA Games is an important stage for our athletes to showcase their talent and represent Singapore on the regional stage.

“I am deeply honoured to lead Team Singapore and look forward to working closely with Eng Soon, Shao Ing, Samuel and our athletes to create the best conditions for them to perform and fly our flag high in Thailand.”

The final list for the Singapore contingent will be announced closer to the Games, said the SNOC.

At the year-end Games, Singapore’s athletes will compete in sports held across Bangkok, Chonburi and Songkhla, as Thailand hosts the multi-sport event for the seventh time with a total of 574 gold medals up for grabs across 50 sports.

The regional sports powerhouse last hosted the Games in 2007, when it was held in Korat. Bangkok was the host city in 1959, 1967, 1975, and 1985 and Chiang Mai in 1995.

Team Singapore will be looking to improve on their outing from the 2023 Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Republic’s 554 athletes competed across 30 sports, winning 51 golds, 43 silvers and 64 bronzes to finish sixth in the overall standings. The 51-gold haul was Singapore’s fourth-highest in Games history, after the 84 golds at the 2015 edition on home soil, 58 in Malaysia in 2017 and 53 from the Philippines in 2019.

Sprint queen Shanti Pereira was one of the standout athletes of the 2023 edition after clinching the coveted sprint double in the 100m and 200m, with teammate Ang Chen Xiang also winning a joint-gold in the 110m hurdles. The men’s water polo team also regained their gold medal, while the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team of Quah Ting Wen, Quah Jing Wen, Amanda Lim and Nur Marina Chan won Singapore’s 1,000th gold medal of the Games.

In December, Pereira will return to the track in a bid to retain her titles, while top distance runner Soh Rui Yong –

who won an appeal in August after initially being left out of the SEA games list

– is looking to improve on the 10,000m silver from the 2023 edition.

Also among the athletes to watch are Olympic kitefoiling bronze medallist Maximilian Maeder, table tennis player Izaac Quek, swimmer Gan Ching Hwee, and the men’s water polo and floorball teams.