Floorball in as 402 events confirmed for SEA Games
All 402 sporting events scheduled for the 28th South-east Asia (SEA) Games next month will go on as planned, a spokesman for the SEA Games Organising Committee (Singsoc) confirmed yesterday.
There were initial fears that some events might be dropped due to poor participation.
Last month, TNP broke the story that floorball could be removed from the SEA Games programme because at that point, only three National Olympic Councils (NOC) had confirmed their entries with just 52 days to go.
The SEA Games Federation Charter and Rules state that "a minimum of four NOCs must participate in a sport/event for it to be included in the programme of the SEA Games".
Singapore Floorball Association president Sani Mohd Salim told TNP yesterday that Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines will take part in both the men's and women's competitions.
He said: "We are definitely relieved and happy because we have been working hard to get floorball into the SEA Games programme for the first time.
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"We have had some hiccups along the way, but I'm thankful that we can now confirm that our sport will make its SEA Games debut here next month."
The floorball matches will be played at ITE College East from June 9 to 14.
Other events that were in danger of being removed were from athletics, gymnastics and sailing.
Singsoc's confirmation that the sports programme will go on as planned also greatly boosts Team Singapore's hopes of beating the 50-gold record set in 1993, the last time Singapore hosted the SEA Games.
Floorball should deliver two gold medals, along with Zhang Guirong in the women's shot putt, while the sailors are usually in contention for top spot on the podium.
Sani said: "We are confident of winning two medals because we have prepared well.
"Our men's team went to Finland, while our women's team went to Australia for the World Floorball Championships qualifiers in Australia, and they made it through.
"The speculation and uncertainty did not unsettle our teams and we are ready to put up a good show at the SEA Games."
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