SINGAPORE - The Singapore National Paralympic Council (SNPC) announced on Tuesday (July 18) that 94 Team Singapore athletes have been selected across 11 sports to compete in the upcoming 9th Asean Para Games (APG) in Kuala Lumpur.
This will be the largest contingent for away APG ever - beating the previous largest at the 4th APG in Thailand, which saw 57 athletes participating in eight sports.
Bowling has the most representatives with 17, while table tennis and swimming are sending 14 and 13 athletes respectively. The Games will be held from Sept 17-23.
"We are encouraged that athletes who won medals at the last Asean Para Games have continued to train hard and these athletes now have the opportunity to defend their medals," said SNPC chairman Kevin Wong.
"We also recognised the need to develop potential athletes and provide them with competition experience, and therefore fielded a larger number of athletes this year.
"Although the number of athletes is almost double that of the last away Games, the selection process was rigorous so as to maintain our standards."
Among the most recognisable names headed to KL are swimmers Yip Pin Xiu and Theresa Goh. Yip became Singapore's first Paralympic champion at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and won a further two golds at the Rio Paralympics in 2016. Close friend Goh is the Republic's most bemedalled athlete at the APG with 27 golds. She also won a bronze (SB4 100m breaststroke) at the Rio Games
SNPC board of governors member Shirley Lim has been appointed as the Games chef de mission, leading a contingent of 184 including coaches and support staff.
She said: "Everyone is excited and looking forward to the experience of competing against the best among Asean nations, beating their personal bests and flying the Singapore flag high.
"This will be a good opportunity for us to build on the momentum of success in previous games and showcase the talent we have."
At the last APG held in 2015 on home soil, hosts Singapore won 24 golds, 17 silvers and 22 bronzes and fielded 152 para-athletes.
