Local sporting events bear the brunt of COVID-19

The outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted the lives of many around the world.

Unsurprisingly, sporting events across the world haven’t been spared either – including those closer to home.

From football, to basketball, to golf and even skateboarding, sporting events in Singapore have either been cancelled, suspended or even forced to play behind closed doors.

Youth.SG takes a look at the events that have been affected.

HSBC Women’s World Championship

Held in Singapore since 2008, the golf tournament, which was supposed to be held between Feb 27 and Mar 1, was called off following a decision made by the LPGA and its partners. One of the highest profile international sporting events, world No. 2 Park Sung-hyun was to defend her crown at the new Tanjong Course in Sentosa Golf Club.

Singapore Badminton Open 

Slated for Apr 7 to 12 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the prestigious badminton event was called off last week after consultation with the Badminton World Federation (BWF). Organised by the Singapore Badminton Association, the Open is part of the HSBC BWF World Tour. Top shuttlers, such as China’s Lin Dan and Chen Long, along with Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew were set to grace the event which had a lucrative prize money of US$408,000 on offer.

ASEAN Basketball League 

The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) has been suspended until further notice. Prior to its suspension, games had already been postponed, including a number of games which were scheduled to be played in Taiwan in February and March.

Into its 10th season now, the ABL is a professional men’s basketball league which sees teams from ASEAN, China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan vie for glory. Singapore are represented by the Singapore Slingers, who finished as runners-up last year.

Singapore Premier League 

Matches in the Singapore Premier League (SPL) have gone on as scheduled but are being played behind closed doors indefinitely. The SPL is the only professional football league in Singapore and features a total of nine teams, including Brunei’s DPMM FC – although matches involving the Bruneian side are in a limbo now after the country barred residents from leaving earlier this month.

All other matches are still ongoing though, and they are available via live streaming.

UPDATE (Mar 25): The SPL has suspended all matches in view of the latest measures announced by the COVID-19 Multi-Ministry Task Force.

HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens

Rugby fans in Singapore will have to wait until October for the HSBC Rugby Sevens to come around, after Singapore’s biggest rugby event was postponed over COVID-19 fears. Recognised as the Family Sevens, fans are expected to show up in droves at the Singapore National Stadium in the 16-team tournament, last won by South Africa in 2019.

International Champions Cup 

An annual pre-season football tournament that involves European sides, the International Champions Cup (ICC) in Singapore has been called off, unfortunately. In the past, the ICC had featured teams like Manchester United, Arsenal and Juventus since it was first staged here in 2017 and drew sold-out crowds at the Singapore National Stadium.

Osim Sundown Marathon

Scheduled for May 23, it will be the first time in the race’s 13-year history that it is called off. Some 25,000 runners from as many as 30 countries were expected to participate in this mass running event at the F1 Pit Building, with categories ranging from 5km to the 42.195km full marathon.

Asian Street Skateboarding Championship 

Originally a qualifying tournament for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the Asian Street Skateboarding Championship in Singapore was turned into a showcase event with athletes from countries such as Japan, Vietnam, Yemen, China and of course, Singapore.

In a statement released on the World Skate website, it was announced that the championship – scheduled for Mar 17 to 21 at the newly refurbished Somerset Skatepark – would not go ahead as planned because of travel restrictions placed, making travel into Singapore ‘extremely difficult’.