Asean Para Games to be Hosted by Indonesia’s Surakarta from July 23-30

SINGAPORE – The 2022 Asean Para Games (APG) will now be Hosted by Surakarta, Indonesia, the Asean Para Sports Federation announced on Thursday (Feb 17).

The Biennial event, which had been canceled due to the Pandemic in early 2020 (when the Philippines was due to host it) and last December (Vietnam), will now take place from July 23 to 30.

The news was welcomed by some of Singapore’s Para Athletes as the event was last staged in 2017 in Kuala Lumpur.

Powerlifter Nur Aini Mohamad Yasli, who made her competitive debut in Kuala Lumpur before joining the world’s top para athletes at the Tokyo Paralympics last year, said: “Knowing that there will be a competition for the larger pool of athletes will bring me great there was no APG for the past two years.

“With the confirmed dates now, I have a clearer timeline to work with.”

The proposed sports for the Games include archery, athletics, badminton, bocce, CP football, chess, goalball, judo, powerlifting, table tennis, swimming, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis and sitting volleyball.

However, the new dates might pose a challenge for some of the Republic’s Athletes as they Clash with the July 28-Aug 8 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where para sports such as swimming and powerlifting will feature.

Based on the available events in Birmingham, the Athletes who are likely to be affected are Aini and swimmer Toh Wei Soong.

Aini said, “Scheduling plays a big part in this and right now, we just have to wait and see.

“I’ll work closely with my Coach and the Singapore Disability Sports Council to see which course to take based on my performance pathway outline.

“But whichever course I take, I will put in 100 per cent and do Singapore proud.”

Still, some Athletes, like Boccia player Aloysius Gan, who won a gold and a silver at last December’s Asian Youth Para Games, felt it would be better to Concentrate on improving oneself instead of having specific Games targets, adding: “The situation is too fluid. My focus is mainly on how I can improve and achieve my personal sporting goals. “

Paralympian Toh agreed, noting that the uncertainty surrounding the APG in the last few months “has not been a game changer”.