Sports

Organisers of the Singapore leg of the Fina Swimming World Cup announced their decision to cancel the WC finals scheduled for 6pm after the 3-hour PSI reading escalated towards the unhealthy range. This is the first time the FINA World Cup had been cancelled in Singapore since its inception in 2007.

A group of Singaporean students barely into their teens were crowned world champions yesterday in this year's Optimist World Championships. 3 years ago, Singapore's sailors were the defending champions to beat at the Championships, but lost the world title to Thailand. Yesterday, the team of 5 young sailors beat that same team from Thailand and reclaimed the title for the Republic in the 15-and-Under sailing class.

Singapore swimmer Joseph Schooling won a bronze medal in the 100m butterfly final of the FINA World Championships, breaking the national record and setting a new Asian record in the process. He is the first ever Singaporean to win a medal at the FINA World Championships.

Speaking on the sidelines of a Courts Young Lions training session at Jalan Besar Stadium yesterday, National Coach Bernd Strange finally gave his view on the SEA Games debacle, which saw the Singapore football team crashing out in an early group stage match in June this year.

25 year-old national sepak takraw player Azreen Sairudin still remembers the fateful accident that claimed his younger brother's life, and his haunting last words. Both brothers were involved in a collision with a car along Seletar Expressway on 7th June. His younger brother, 21 year-old Aqil Sairudin, was riding pillion on Azreen's motorcycle.

Just one week after Izwan Mahbud's stunning performance against Japan, he already has an invite to train with a J-League team Matsumoto Yamaga. Newly-promoted Matsumoto Yamaga, is currently 14th in the 18-team J-League after 16 games, are keen on giving Izwan Mahbud a trial.

While most were behind the sportsmen at the recent South-east Asian Games, he was dismayed at some fans’ reactions at the football match between Singapore and Indonesia. It got “a bit ugly” he recalled. The players, whom he met before the matches, gave their all, he said. “As supporters, we need to be mindful that it really takes a lot to compete. Good, bad, you have to support.” Team coach Aide Iskandar had hit out at some fans for their verbal abuse of the players.

In an interview with the media, Japanese striker Keisuke Honda described his disappointment with the result of Japan's match against Singapore, but gracefully heaped praises on the Singapore side. "The result was what it was, so there’s nothing we can do about it,” said Honda, who hit the crossbar from a free kick midway through the second half. “If anything, I think they took it easy on us."

Four-times Asian champions Japan were held to a surprise goalless draw at home by a resolute Singapore today (June 16) in a poor start to their World Cup qualifying campaign.

After their 1 - 0 lost to Indonesia, the Singapore under-23 Lions have crashed out of the SEA Games football competition. After a goalless and lacklustre first half, Indonesia broke the deadlock with an unstoppable shot from Evan Dimas Darmono in the 47th minute.