SINGAPORE — It was a bittersweet moment for the Singapore ice-skating team at the SEA Open Short Track Trophy over the weekend as they bagged 14 golds, 12 silvers, and ten bronze medals. Still, it was also their final competition to be held at The Rink in JCube as the shopping mall is scheduled to close on Aug 6 this year to make way for a new 40-storey residential development that will include commercial space.
The regional competition was held on Apr 1-2 and was officially opened on Saturday by Eric Chua, senior parliamentary secretary, ministry of culture, community and youth. It attracted 120 ice skaters from 11 countries, including Australia, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Philippines and Vietnam.
Team Singapore fielded 27 skaters, with the youngest at just five years old. Singapore hosted the SEA Open Short Track Trophy for four consecutive years from 2017 until 2020. It was disrupted the following year due to the pandemic. With the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, Singapore could resume hosting the competition this year.
For Singapore Ice Skating Association’s secretary-general Alicia Tan, expressed her joy in Singapore playing host and hopes that this will increase participation and enhance competition in future events.
“We are really glad to be able to host the SEA Open Short Track Trophy in Singapore once again, and are pleased to see such active participation from the region. We are especially glad to welcome Vietnam who fielded a short track team for the first time. This bodes well for more competing nations and an even higher level of competition at the next SEA Games to feature ice skating,” said Tan, who is also the SEA Open Short Track Trophy organising committee chair.
Ice skating debuted in the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Singapore won a gold and a silver each through Yu Shuran and Chloe Ing, respectively, in the women’s figure skating. Lucas Ng won four silvers in the short track at the 2017 SEA Games in the men’s 1000m and the women’s 1000m courtesy of Cheyenne Goh. The Singapore men’s and women’s teams also finished second in the 3000m relay event.
At the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines, Ing improved her results from the previous meet, winning the gold medal in the women’s figure skating event. Singapore clinched their first-ever gold medals in the figure skating category. Goh finished first in the women’s 500m and 1000m events, while the men’s 3000m relay team of Lucas Ng, Trevor Tan, Zen Koh and Xu Jing Feng won gold. Goh also competed in the women’s 3000m relay, where her team finished in third place.
There was no ice skating competition during the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam. Still, the skating federations expect the sport to be included again in Thailand in 2025, Malaysia in 2027, and Singapore when it hosts the biennial regional sporting event in 2029.
“Of course, whether we are able to host ice skating as part of SEA Games Singapore 2029 will depend on whether we get a new rink by then. Our skaters have done well at the SEA Trophy, with many of them aiming to represent our country at the Games. Regional federations and skaters have also expressed hope that Singapore will be able to add ice skating into our 2029 Games roster, and we are hopeful that we will be able to deliver,” added Alison Chan, president of the Singapore Ice Skating Association.
The competition is sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU) and Asian Skating Union and supported by the ISU Development Programme. This marks the tenth year Singapore has hosted highly successful ice skating events, including the ISU World Development Trophy 2013, Tri-Series Short Track Cup 2016 and SEA Open Figure Skating Trophy 2023. Singapore Ice Skating Association is currently in active talks with Sport Singapore on a new ice rink facility that will be purpose-built for training and competitions.