Young Lions, Singapore badminton team taken to task by officials after poor SEA Games showings
The Young Lions were "outmuscled, outpaced and outlasted" in their loss to Timor-Leste, said SNOC secretary-general Mark Chay.
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BANGKOK: Singapore's football and badminton teams performed poorly at the 33rd SEA Games, said team Singapore officials at a wrap-up press conference on Saturday (Dec 20).
"For football, I would just say that the performance is poor," said High Performance Sport Institute chief Su Chun Wei.
The Young Lions lost both their games and crashed out in the group stage of the SEA Games for the sixth consecutive time.
While SNOC secretary-general Mark Chay said that there were no regrets in sending the team to the Games, he added that the Young Lions were "outmuscled, outpaced and outlasted" in their 1-3 loss to Timor-Leste.
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"I wouldn't say there are regrets. We need to give our athletes the opportunities to shine, and it is regrettable that the athletes were not able to and the results showed," he said.
"I was there for the Timor-Leste (game), they were outmuscled, outpaced and outlasted. And these are not ... things that are to do with talent or skill."
Mr Chay added that the team's attitude is something that the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) needs to look at.
"The athletes just walked off the field, didn't even acknowledge the crowd," he said. "I understand disappointment, but they need to really look at sportsmanship, really look at attitude and respect of the sport, as well as the people who went there to support them."
He added that there needs to be "acceptance" and "awareness" from FAS that there is an issue.
"The key to actually making any change, or any progress is acceptance and awareness of ... there being a problem," said Mr Chay.
"I haven't heard anything from FAS or the athletes that there is a problem. I think that is a systemic problem."
Earlier this year, the Young Lions were left out of the provisional list for the Games. But the team appealed successfully, playing out two closed-door friendlies, with a win and a draw, to strengthen the case for their inclusion.
"We gave the football team a chance, it didn't turn out as expected, this is a fact," said Dr Su. "The criteria is consistent in every edition, (authorities) apply them consistently. If they make it, they will be there, if they do not, then they are not. The same applies for all the other sports and athletes."
For the SEA Games, athletes need to have achieved at least a third place at the last edition of the event. For team sports, they should currently be ranked third among SEA Games countries.
Athletes or teams who miss the qualifying standard "marginally", but show potential to equal or surpass it in time for the Games, can be selected too.
Dr Su said the Young Lions' performance underscores the importance of the national "Unleash the Roar" (UTR) project.
"We know that football is not doing well, and that's why we have UTR and we have to have patience," he added.
"We have been saying this every edition, but it is just a fact."
BADMINTON PERFORMANCE "NOT UP TO STANDARD"
The performance of Singapore's badminton team was "not up to standard", given that no athlete made the semi-finals of the tournament.
"We are disappointed with the results, it fell short of our expectations," said Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) chief Lawrence Leow, who is also Singapore's chef de mission for the Games.
SBA had set a four-medal target prior to the Games.
Mr Leow added that men's singles top seed Loh Kean Yew "did not live up to the occasion", with third seed Jason Teh's performance "very disappointing". Loh was eliminated in the quarter-finals and Teh one round prior.
Despite being Singapore's flagbearer, top women's singles player Yeo Jia Min did not feature in the team and individual events as she had not recovered fully from injury.
Mr Leow added that SBA has started its post-mortem of the results.
"It's not just about on-court performances. We need to look at the whole ecosystem, the way we look at the pipeline for talent and all that," he added.
Singapore ended their Games campaign with a medal haul of 52 gold, 61 silver and 89 bronze, fifth on the overall medal table. There were also 12 Games records, 11 national records and 29 personal bests.
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