Singaporean athletes hoped to earn 45 golds at SEA Games 31

The Singaporean delegation at the parade of nations of the SEA Games 31 opening ceremony in Hanoi on May 12 evening (Photo: VNA)

Singapore (VNA) - While Singapore’ssports administrators did not set a medal target at the ongoing SEA Games 31 inVietnam, their athletes are believed to have the potential to garner 45 goldmedals, according to the Games Organising Committee.

Up to 243 out of the 427 athletes who representSingapore at SEA Games 31 are debutants.

Expectations are high for the Singaporean team,following strong showings in SEA Games 30 in the Philippines in 2019 (53 golds, 46 silvers, 68bronzes) and 2017 (58 - 58 - 72) in Kuala Lumpur.

Led by Olympians Joseph Schooling and QuahZheng Wen, Singapore's swimmers are likely to dominate in the pool once moreand mine almost half of that total target.

While the sailors, who typically deliver a goodhaul of golds at the Games, will not be in Hanoi as sailing is not contested,others sports like table tennis, bowling and shooting should contributemultiple medals, as could sports where Singapore has enjoyed recent success insuch as fencing and cue sports.

Combat sports, which account for a record 32.5percent of the 40 sports contested in Vietnam, are also likely to brought homemedals in pencak silat, jiu jitsu and wushu. Pencak silatexponent Iqbal Abdul Rahman notched the first gold for Singapore on May11 in the men's artistic singles (Tunggal)./.

VNA