S’pore’s record 11-medal haul at Asian Para Games met expectations: MCCY’s David Neo

SINGAPORE – With happy smiles on their faces and medals around their necks, Team Singapore’s 20-member contingent returned from the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games to the cheers of a 50-strong crowd comprising friends, family and sports officials at Changi Airport on Oct 26.

There was reason to celebrate, after they clinched a record 11-medal haul at the quadrennial event, though they missed out on gold for the first time since the inaugural edition in 2010.

While the result saw Singapore dipping six spots from the previous edition to place 23rd on the medal table, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo noted that the para athletes have “met my expectations” and “done really well” this time.

Speaking to the media at the team’s welcome back ceremony at the airport on Oct 26, he said: “For our athletes, what we look at is about them going out there, performing their best and when it comes to that, we have eight national records, 10 personal bests and four season bests.

“I couldn’t ask for anything more from our athletes, and when it comes to sports, it’s always a matter of two things. One is about how well our athletes do, and I think on that count, they have really surpassed them.

“Really very happy with their performance... we have no control over how other countries do – (Toh) Wei Soong did really well, but he came in second to somebody who broke the Games record, so you can’t control these things.

“They have certainly met my expectations, they have done really well, it’s a matter of them surpassing themselves and meeting their full potential.”

Five of the 11 medals won in Japan came from Toh (two silvers and three bronzes), taking the 28-year-old’s medal total over three editions of the Asiad to 12. The veteran, who won three golds and a silver in Hangzhou in 2023, is one of Singapore’s most successful athletes alongside seven-time Paralympic swimming champion Yip Pin Xiu.

Toh, who has represented Singapore for nearly 14 years, hopes to inspire others to achieve their dreams.

He said: “As a whole, the contingent did fantastically well. This is one of the highest medal counts of all time, and overall, for me, I now have 12 medals at the APG, and it’s just a great milestone for me.

“And I always think that, if you have a disability, the worst thing you can receive is a preconceived notion of what is possible.

“When you have people around you, whether that’s your coaches, your sports science support, your teammates, and they think that you can do anything you want, that you can achieve what you dream to achieve, that’s the most empowering thing.”

On the issue of Singapore’s talent pipeline, Neo said: “When you speak to athletes like Wei Soong or Pin Xiu, you ask them what got them started and how they became so good at their craft.

“A lot of times they’ll tell you it’s that one encounter and experience that they had with that sport that made them love it, and then they keep on trying harder.”

Pointing to the refresh of the Disability Sports Master Plan in 2024, Neo added: “We also started the Enabling Sports Fund, and with that, we have benefited more than 8,000 persons with disabilities, introducing them to new sports at community level, and what we really hope is that through these efforts, we’ll be able to find the next Wei Soong and the next Pin Xiu, and hopefully many, many more.”

Among the medallists in Japan was para archer Nur Syahidah Alim, who won a silver in the women’s compound individual open. The 41-year-old shared that she had struggled with performance anxiety issues, but said that competing in these Games gave her hope again.

She said: “I think I did really well in these Games. I felt that when I came into the games in Nagoya, I was really well prepared, and I felt focused and determined in terms of my shooting.

“I have my own personal goals which I would like to achieve, and with the help of my team and my coach and my sports psychologist, I realised that I wanted to be the kind of archer that is unshaken by unexpected situations, and I would want to see myself working towards that.

“Next year is actually going to be a busy year for para archery because it’s the qualification year for LA 2028. So I’m looking forward to working very closely with the team in hopes to qualify for the Paralympics.”