SAF CELEBRATES ACHIEVEMENTS OF SPORTSPERSONS

Sportsmen and sportswomen from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) have certainly left their mark in the local and international sporting scene. Amongst other accolades, they were champion and first runner-up at the 2011 Public Service Star Games Golf Championship, second at the 2011 National Basketball League and had won medals at the 19^th Commonwealth Games' shooting events.

For their commitment and effort in achieving sporting excellence, they were honoured at the annual SAF Sports Association (SAFSA) Awards Ceremony held at the Chevrons on 30 Sep.

Chief of Defence Force and Chairman SAFSA Council, Lieutenant-General (LG) Neo Kian Hong, who gave out 108 awards at the evening event, said: "Developing a vibrant sports culture in the SAF is important as it builds cohesion, excellence, resilience and discipline. More importantly, it enhances the physical and mental well-being of our servicemen and women."

LG Neo's words resonated with Military Expert 4 (ME4) Scott Wong, who was part of the 22-man team that won the 200m, 500m and 2000m dragon boat races at this year's Crew Club World Championships held in Macau.

"The road leading up to the Championships was a long one," ME4 Wong recalled. "It took a lot of effort, pain and sweat, but when we crossed the finishing line first, it was all worth it," said the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) officer.

To prepare for the competition, the team trained up to three hours in the gym every weekday and spent at least two hours on the waters of Kallang River practising rowing strokes on weekends.

It was also a hard-won victory for Team Navy, who edged out eight other formations from the Army and the RSAF to pick up the title of Best Formation at the SAF's Inter-Formation Championships (IFC).

For them, the competition boiled down to a game of numbers.

Said assistant team manager 1WO Tan Hong Boon from the Naval Diving Unit: "The fight was so close, (the formations) were neck-to-neck and we were all within a one-point difference. Even when we were up to the last event, nobody knew who was going to win."

He added: "We were losing and playing catching up after each game. At the final event, which was swimming, the team manager and I took three hours to schedule the swimmers so that we could earn the maximum number of points. We had to plug every hole because every point made a big difference in the title race."

The strategy worked and Team Navy won with a comfortable six-point lead, securing their spot at the top of the IFC table with 90 points. 9th Division / Infantry came in second with 84 points, 2 PDF / Engineering was second runner-up with 83 points and the RSAF's team placed fourth with 82 points.

2,163 sportsmen and sportswomen participated in eight inter-formation games held throughout the year, competing in sports like table tennis, football, basketball and badminton.

The 2010/2011 SAFSA Awards winners are:

Best Sportsman - 2WO Poh Lip Meng (Shooting)

Best Coach - Mr Yan Chin Wai (Swimming)

Best Team (Men) - Dragon Boat

Best Team (Women) - Shooting

Best Team (Mixed) - Swimming

Best IFC Formation - Team Navy