'Sustained success' the aim for Republic

While Singapore has delivered a laudable overall performance at the Hanoi SEA Games, senior sports administrators also highlighted a number of sports that needed to buck up.

Swimming delivered its usual high standards in the Vietnamese capital, mining 21 gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze medals as Singapore finished as the top nation in the sport, as did fencing (6-4-5) and bowling (3-1-3).

Pencak silat was also praised for its best showing at the biennial Games with a 4-3-4 return, while athletics took home 11 medals (1-3-7) for the sport's best total haul since 1993.

Singapore National Olympic Council secretary-general Chris Chan said he was "delighted" by athletics' turnaround as well, given the Republic's poor performances in recent history despite the fact that track and field featured the largest number of gold medals (47) on offer.

"I hope this is the spark that will stir interest in the younger athletes," he added. "Track and field is a very big event (at the school level) and if you go to (National School Games) finals, there is a massive attendance and massive support for athletes. But what happens after that? Nevertheless, this showing is very encouraging."

He also praised fencing for its recent rise, noting it was a result of long-term planning from national sports association Fencing Singapore, as well as a harmonious national coaching set-up.

"I won't say that will work for everybody, but there are some good practices in all the various (associations)," he said. "It is a matter of searching around and searching and finding the right (approach) and adapting it."

However, Singapore Sport Institute chief Su Chun Wei did name several sports like volleyball, basketball, handball and rowing that left empty-handed and said they "require reflection" on where they can improve and how.

"Some of these sports have come, tried their best and come short... They have a lot to reflect, go back, regroup and determine to do very much better," he said. "We are committed to work with them and make sure that (up) is the only trajectory we aim for them."

On the men's Under-23 football team, who suffered a fourth straight group-stage exit, Su said the team showed "gutsy, gritty" performances but conceded they needed to get their "act together".

"The (team)... have what it takes in terms of technical skills, ability to play as a team and the heart to be able to achieve that," he noted. "More importantly for (them) to reflect, how do we get into each game and each tournament and hit the (ground) running? And do that consistently and on a sustained basis.

"I think the (players) need to believe that they can... Supporting their journey is also about working with the Unleash the Roar national project (to reach the 2034 World Cup) to ensure... cohorts of younger footballers can come up as we march towards SEA Games 2029 (when Singapore are hosts) and beyond.

"I think then we will have a very good chance to demonstrate our ability for sustained success. We are not quite there yet but you can see signs of that coming through... We have to get our act together and do this right on a consistent basis."