SportPlus.sg reviews 22 significant sporting moments of 2022 in the Singapore sporting scene that has left an impact as we enter post-Covid norms
PHOTO: HANA BASIR, SPORTPLUS.SG
As we come to the end of another year filled with unforgettable sporting moments and memories, it is easy to forget what the preceding three years were like.
Emerging from the ashes of Covid-19, the sporting fraternity has bounced back stronger than ever and it is heartening to see.
This goes from local to international sports events that were held in Singapore this year, to fitness competitions and the opening of new gyms and physical centres as a new wave of enthusiasm took hold in Singapore with Singaporeans placing a greater emphasis on physical health and wellness post pandemic.
But just in case you forgot what of those moments were, we have decided to provide you with a simple wrap-up of 2022 with SportPlus.sg's top 22 favourite moments in no particular order, mostly with events we attended or covered of course!
PHOTO: CHERYL TAY, SPORTPLUS.SG
1. Singapore's Athletics Outstanding Performance at 31st SEA Games
It is always difficult to single out outstanding performances in any competition, let alone a multi-sport event such as the Southeast Asian Games. This time round though special mention has to go to a youthful Singapore Athletics' contingent at the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi, with a best-ever showing yielding 1 Gold, 4 Silver and 4 Bronzes.
Gold
Shanti Pereira (Women's 200m)
Silver
Shanti Pereira (Women's 100m)
Michelle Sng (Women's High Jump)
Ang Cheng Xiang (Men's 110m hurdles)
Marc Brian Louis, Joshua Chua, Mark Lee, Ian Koe (Men's 4x400m relay)
Bronze
Goh Chui Ling (Women's 1,500m and 10,000m)
Marc Brian Louis (Men's 100m)
Tan Zong Yang (Men's 400m)
Calvin Quek (Men's 400m Hurdles)
Recap it in our SEA Games article here.
PHOTO: STANDARD CHARTERED SINGAPORE MARATHON
2. Return of Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon in full Physical Scale
After three painfully long years of cancelled sports events and virtual runs, Singapore's marquee running event finally made its return from 2-4 December 2022.
Never mind that there was no official elite local category this year, the event still attracted close to 40,000 runners across the three days, and after a pre-race thunderstorm scare on 4 December, which saw the event delayed for an hour, the event successfully concluded with many happy runners and participants finally getting a taste of a mass run after what was widely deemed a disappointing scaled-down return in 2021.
Read the full Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon story here.
PHOTO: FAIZAL BASIR, SPORTPLUS.SG
3. Hougang United Wins its first Silverware in History
Hougang United won its first piece of silverware in the club's history when the Singapore Premier League outfit, nicknamed the Cheetahs, defeated defending Singapore Cup champions Tampines Rovers 3-2 and were crowned champions at the Jalan Besar Stadium, with close to 3,000 fans in attendance.
All goals were scored by Hougang United midfielder Kristijan Krajcek, who made history by becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in a Singapore Cup final.
Read our full match report of the Singapore Cup Final here.
PHOTO: FAIZAL BASIR, SPORTPLUS.SG
4. Debut of the Inaugural Urban Sports & Wellness Week
ibis Budget Singapore and Sport Plus Media Pte Ltd hosted the inaugural Urban Sports and Wellness Week, a week-long celebration of active living through a series of urban sports and wellness events across local fitness communities with over 300 participants attending events across 3 days.
The highlights of the week included an AcroYoga for beginners event held at Jyan Yoga Studio, which was followed by an organised running event with Superhero Runners as part of Urban Exploration, before the week wrapped up with an Aqua Fitness event at ibis Budget Clarke Quay's rooftop swimming pool.
Relive the moments in our Urban Sports and Wellness Week section here.
PHOTO: CHERYL TAY, SPORTPLUS.SG
5. ASICS World Ekiden Community Run
Some 200 runners descended upon the Singapore Sports Hub as sportswear brand ASICS brought its previously virtual relay into life with a physical community run, limited to the first 25 teams who registered. Runners were surprised when they expectedly received a new sky-blue ASICS Running Club tee as part of the brand's efforts to reach out to new runners in the community.
See more photos from the event in our photo album here.
PHOTO: CHERYL TAY, SPORTPLUS.SG
6. Singapore Netballers finish second in Asian Netball Championships
Playing in front of a sell-out crowd at OCBC Arena, Singapore's netballers fell to defending champions Sri Lanka 53-63, who put up an impressive performance to come from behind and win their sixth Asian Netball Championships crown.
Three-time Asian champions Singapore put up an impressive performance in the tournament, particularly as the team fielded a young squad with five players competing in a major international tournament for the first time.
See more photos from the event in our photo album here.
PHOTO: BADMINTON PHOTO
7. Terry Hee and and Tan Wei Han score history Mixed Doubles Gold
Singapore mixed doubles pair Terry Hee and Jessica Tan clinched a historic gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, after they beat home favourites Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith 21-16, 21-15 in the final.
Read more here.
PHOTO: CHERYL TAY, SPORTPLUS.SG
8. AustCham 10KM Dragonboat Race
The 2022 Austcham 10KM Challenge delivered an adrenaline pumping afternoon at the Kallang riverside, as the event saw 25 teams compete in the 5KM dragonboat race, and 155 teams take on the 10KM challenge.
Top 3 (5KM)
1st - Latin Dragons
2nd - Sg Paddle Club
3rd - NUS Alumni Dragonboat Team
Top 3 (10KM)
1st - Sg Paddle Club
2nd - NUS Alumni Dragonboat Team
3rd - SIM Dragonboat Team
PHOTO: HANA BASIR, SPORTPLUS.SG
9. Lion City Sailors' Women's team wins Deloitte Women's Premier League
Lion City Sailors sealed their maiden Deloitte Women’s Premier League title off the back of an unbeaten run with two matches left to spare.
The Sailors become the 14th different winner of the WPL, bringing an end to the four-year reign of Warriors FC from 2016 to 2019.
PHOTO: HANA BASIR, SPORTPLUS.SG
10. Under Armour hosts inaugural UA Combine
Under Armour’s inaugural foray into the world of competitive fitness led to the UA Combine being born. Held at Singapore’s iconic Pasir Panjang Power Station, individuals across diverse range of fitness disciplines gathered to compete in eight physical and mental tests specially curated by one of the world’s leading athletic performance apparel brands.
Read the full story here.
PHOTO: HANA BASIR, SPORTPLUS.SG
11. Strong Singapore Representation at Desaru IRONMAN
Some 1,475 participants took part in the 2022 Desaru Coast 70.3 Ironman, of these over 200 were participants from Singapore who made the trip across the causeway to compete in the first return of the event post Covid-19.
They were urged on by an overwhelming show of love by friends and family, driving them to the finish line.
You can read our coverage of the event here.
PHOTO: HANIDA HUSSEIN, SPORTPLUS.SG
12. Great Eastern Women's Run 2022
The Great Eastern Women’s Run (GEWR) made its comeback, marking the first all-women’s physical mass run since 2019 with some 4,000 participants taking part.
It had been three years since participants experienced the atmosphere of a physical mass run and the thrill of finishing on the National Stadium track.
PHOTO: HANIDA HUSSEIN, SPORTPLUS.SG
13. GritGames 2022
The fourth edition of the GritGames, a fitness competition organised by local boutique gym Grityard, witnessed over 50 participants fight for the title of best men's and women's individual champion, and best team.
Overall Champion: Kimberly & Maxine (Female), Zaki & Han Qin (Male)
1st Runner-up: Norizan & Ping Shuang (Female), Desmond and Zheng Guang (Male)
2nd Runner-up: Isabelle & Majorie (Female), Han Long & Lennard (Male)
Overall Winner - Individual Events
Isabelle (Female), U Jin (Male)
PHOTO: CHARIS CHUA, SPORTPLUS.SG
14. Return of Singapore Grand Prix
The 2022 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX returned after a two-year absence and was bigger and better than ever. The world's first night race saw a record crowd of 302,000 over the race weekend – the highest attendance the event has seen since its inception in 2008.
Read Charis' experience with Team Red Bull at the F1 Night Race here.
PHOTO: JOHN YEONG, SPORTPLUS.SG
15. Outstanding Table Tennis Team Performance at Commonwealth Games 2022
A young Singaporean table tennis contingent boasting the likes of Wong Xin Ru, Zhou Jingyi, Koen Pang and Izaac Quek turned in a massive performance at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, to return home with an impressive haul of 3 golds, 2 silvers and 2 bronzes.
The event also witnessed the iconic moment where Singapore table tennis legend Feng Tianwei cried on the podium after clinching women's individual gold in what could be her final Major Games for Singapore.
PHOTO: HANA BASIR, SPORTPLUS.SG
16. David Beckham visits the Cage
In a special adidas activation, David Beckham paid a visit to The Cage in which the former Man Utd and Real Madrid football star played a football match with Singapore footballers and the Man Utd Supporters Club.
View more photos from David Beckham's visit in our photo gallery here.
PHOTO: HANA BASIR, SPORTPLUS.SG
17. Singapore hosts Singapore Floorball Series
With Singapore opening its borders to international travel, the Republic hosted two international floorball tournaments at the OCBC Arena at the Singapore Sports Hub. The two events – Women’s Asia Oceania Floorball Confederation Cup (Women’s AOFC Cup) and the Men’s World Floorball Championship Qualifiers AOFC (Men’s WFCQ – AOFC) – kickstarted the inaugural Singapore Floorball Series, launched as a platform that aims to regularly bring top floorball action to the community including the 2023 World Floorball Championships.
PHOTO: HANA BASIR, SPORTPLUS.SG
18. Return of full scale MetaSprint Series
Over 1,000 participants turn up for MetaSport's marquee event at Singapore's East Coast Park, dismissing suggestions of a lack of demand for mass participation sports post Covid.
It was the first time the event was held in its full physical scale, having needed to scale back over the past year due to the need for social distancing and number caps owing to the pandemic.
Read our full news story coverage here.
PHOTO: LOH KEAN YEW, SPORTPLUS.SG
19. Badminton's Loh Kean Yew rises to all time career high World Rank Number 3
Singapore badminton athlete Loh Kean Yew broke into the top three in the world rankings for the first time in his career in November, making it the first time a Singaporean men’s badminton player has reached the top three in the world. Previously, the highest-ranked men's singles player in Singapore was Ronald Susilo, who was placed sixth in 2004.
PHOTO: ONE CHAMPIONSHIP
20. Angela "Unstoppable" Lee makes winning return after Motherhood
Singapore-American Atomweight star Angela "Unstoppable" Lee, a Singapore crowd favourite, made her first return to the cage after a two and a half year layoff due to motherhood. Despite being badly hurt by a body shot in Round 1 from challenger Stamp Fairtex, Lee bounced back to secure a second round submission to defeat her opponent in stunning fashion and remain undefeated in Atomweight.
PHOTO: TOUR DE FRANCE SINGAPORE CRITERIUM
21. Tour De France Criterium makes debut in Singapore
The atmosphere around the Marina Bay area was electric as the inaugural Tour de France Prudential Singapore Criterium made its bow as the 20-lap race eventually saw Jona Vingegaard emerge as champion.
PHOTO: JOHN YEONG, SPORTPLUS.SG
22. New Balance All-Star Mile
Touted as an event that unearths the next generation of rising stars among Singapore's track athletes, the New Balance All-Star Mile saw a total of 73 participants across 8 categories compete for glory in the U23 and U19 categories, with a year long sponsorship with New Balance also on the cards, along with prize monies for the top 5 of each category.
Held at the Hougang Stadium, the event was delayed by 2 hours midway owing to a thunderstorm, but came to a successful conclusion.