The Singapore National Paralympic Council (SNPC) has selected 33 Team Singapore para athletes to represent the Republic at the upcoming 4th Asian Para Games (APG), taking place from 22 to 28 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China.
Among the athletes who made the cut are archer Nur Syahidah Alim, swimmers Yip Pin Xiu and Toh Wei Soong and paddler Claire Toh.
This is the second time China will host the APG after the successful staging of the first edition of the Games in Guangzhou in 2010.
Team Singapore will take part in nine sports, namely Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Boccia, Lawn Bowls, Powerlifting, Shooting, Swimming and Table Tennis.
The last edition of the quadrennial event was the 3rd APG in Jakarta, Indonesia, held in October 2018.
It saw Team Singapore athletes winning a total of ten (10) medals – three (3) golds, two (2) silvers, and five (5) bronzes, in ten (10) sports.
Of the 33 selected athletes selected, 17 will make their APG debut.
The youngest athlete on the contingent is 17-year-old Boccia player Aloysius Gan (photo below), while the oldest is 76-year-old Para Lawn Bowler Mahendran s/o Pasupathy, both of whom are debutants.
“I am incredibly honoured and excited to be selected as a para lawn bowler in the contingent representing our country,” said Mahendran.
“As the oldest athlete in the group and someone who only took up the sport in my seventies, it fills me with a sense of pride and accomplishment to have come this far.
“My main goal for the Games is to give my best performance and showcase the capabilities of para athletes.
“Winning a medal would be a remarkable achievement, but more importantly, I want to demonstrate the dedication and determination that para athletes possess,” he said.
Gan, who won a silver medal in the Individual BC3 Male event and a bronze medal in the BC3 Mixed Pairs event at the 12th ASEAN Para Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, said, “I’m honoured to be selected for this competition.
“Although I’m the youngest in the contingent and there are many stronger players, I will do my best to make Singapore proud.”
The Hangzhou Asian Para Games was originally scheduled for 9 to 15 October 2022, but was postponed to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
PHOTOS: SNPC