Asian Youth Games kicks off in Singapore

MANILA, Philippines - The future of Asian sports – over a thousand athletes aged 14 to 17 years – take the spotlight beginning today as they get their chance to benchmark their performances in the inaugural Asian Youth Games at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.

The Philippines is among the 45 countries competing in the nine-day meet, which stakes 90 gold medals in nine sports and serves as a test in preparation for the first Youth Olympic Games which this island-state will also be hosting next year.

Despite the failure of its football team to compete, Team Philippines remains upbeat of its chances in at least four sports, including bowling, shooting, swimming and athletics.

“Our athletes are in high spirits and are raring to compete,” said RP chief of mission Col. Cesar Binag, also the president of the Table Tennis Association of the Philippines.

Down to 41 athletes, the young Filipino athletes will also vie for top honors in diving, basketball 3-on-3, beach volleyball and table tennis.

The 18-player football squad was dropped from the AYG roster after one of its members tested positive for influenza A(H1N1) along with Hong Kong, which registered three cases of the dreaded virus last week.

The RP booters were quarantined for seven days then allowed to play a friendly with Singapore, which ended in a 2-all count at the Jalan Besar Stadium Saturday. The football team arrived in Manila yesterday.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be the guest of honor in opening rites starting at 7 tonight with 400 students from the four primary schools – Edgefield, Nan Hua, Gongshang and River Valley – performing one of three mass display presentations entitled, “Garden in the City”, which will show the multi-ethnic flavor of Singapore, combining a medley of songs in four languages. The kids will be decked out in vibrant costumes and props depicting Singapore’s national flower, Vanda Miss Joaquim.

The opening ceremonies as well as the games will be broadcast live via webcast to reach out to the international community.

This marks the first time Singapore is hosting a multi-sport event since the 1993 Southeast Asian Games. The meet serves as a prelude to next year’s Youth Olympic Games which will feature 26 sports and around 3,600 athletes.

Eight gold medals are up for grabs in today’s first day of action, including six in athletics and two in diving. Other events on tap are boys’ 3-meter springboard and girls platform in diving and boys’ pole vault, discus throw and 1500m run, and girls’ high jump, long jump and 1500m in athletics.