ALI KASIM
One wonders, during this time last year, what Shanti Pereira expected of herself in 2023. Did she scribble down on some paper: “Break records, strike gold at the Asian Games and basically have the greatest individual year in Singapore track and field history”?
If she did, she can now put a checkmark next to those entries.
The sprint queen gave Singapore sports fans much to shout about with her gold rush (five in three competitions), culminating in a stunning finale in Hangzhou, China, where she ended Singapore’s 49-year wait for a track and field gold at the Asian Games by claiming the women’s 200m crown.
Strangely however, aside from Shanti, there wasn’t much to shout about in terms of Indian athletes, at least not on the surface.
Here’s a startling stat: Over the last 28 years, from Atlanta 1996 right down to Tokyo 2020, 141 athletes have represented Singapore on the Olympic stage. Only three of them were Indians – Shanti and fencer Amita Berthier (in 2020) and hurdler Dipna Lim Prasad (2012).
Sure, ultimately, we compete under the Singapore flag and not a Singapore-Indian one, but the question – where have all the Indian athletes gone? – is a fair one when you think about our sporting history and the days when this country produced track stars such as sprinter C. Kunalan and long-distance runner K. Jayamani, as well as celebrated footballers S. Rajagopal, V. Sundramoorthy, and national captain Terry Pathmanathan, not to mention Olympic boxer Syed Abdul Kadir.
Right now, beyond Shanti, no one else appears to be a proverbial torchbearer.
There are, however, a few “wonderkids” down the pipeline; a few youngsters poised to burst onto the scene.
In athletics, there is Marc Brian Louis – the son of a Tamil father and Filipina mother – who ran 10.27s in the 100m at the recent Asian Games to eclipse U.K. Shyam’s long-standing national record of 10.37s set in 2001.
After battling injuries the last couple of years, Marc has been going from strength to strength. He began his track career as a hurdler and offered a glimpse of his talent early on when he won an historic gold for Singapore at the 2019 Asian Youth Championships in the 400m hurdles. Last year, he clinched the 100m silver at the SEA Games and the Asian Athletics Championships.
As far as records go, Danisha Mathialagan raised a few eyebrows when she became the first Singaporean boxer to qualify for the Asian Games since 1976.
The feat surprised many, as the 25-year-old painfully missed out on the last two SEA Games – she missed the 2023 edition after her light flyweight category (50kg) was cancelled.
Mulling retirement from the sport, Danisha fought on, and in 2022, defeated Madeleine Bowen, Australia’s No. 1 boxer in the 48kg class.
While her debut at the Asiad resulted in defeat in the round of 16, Danisha, who is a full-time student at the Singapore Institute of Technology, is aiming to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. If she makes it, she’ll become the first Singaporean on that stage since Syed Abdul Kadir competed in Munich in 1972.
There’s also Amita who now sports a tattoo of the Olympic rings on her left forearm, after her maiden Olympics in Tokyo. The 22-year-old is eyeing a more valuable memento in 2024: her first Olympic medal.
As far as team sports are concerned, netball player Amandeep Kaur Chahal was a lynchpin in the Singapore side that triumphed at last year’s Nations Cup, emerging as one of the Republic’s top scorers in the tournament.
Mounisha Devi Manivannan should also be given credit for her performances with the women’s water polo team who surprised many at the recent SEA Games, where they bagged a silver medal.
Yes, Indians have finally made a splash in the pool. And, standing at just 1.57m, Mounisha, rather remarkably, plays as the team’s goalkeeper.
“Indian girls in Singapore rarely take up water polo” she once admitted, but the trailblazing Mounisha is a story of sheer dedication and grit. A third-year medical student at NUS, she says she makes up for her lack of height and wingspan with “stronger legs and faster reaction time”, working on those attributes constantly during training.
While all that’s well and good, what about football – the country’s national sport?
In recent times, the national side has been devoid of Indian footballers, save for captain Hariss Harun, now in his twilight years, and midfielder M. Anumanthan.
And, while there’s a young prospect in national Under-23 forward Nicky Melvin Singh, the lack of Indian footballers in the pipeline is salient.
But that might change in a few years.
Halfway across the world, in Madrid, Spain, two young footballers are currently living the dream.
Kyen and Tylan Sasikumar, whose father is former Singapore defender R. Sasikumar, have been impressing many at the prestigious Atletico Madrid academy since last October.
The boys – Kyen is 12, Tylan is 10 – had shown a keen interest in football since young. From kickabouts at an open space in their Jalan Tua Kong condominium, both brothers progressed to organised training with the ActiveSG academy before joining the youth teams of local side Lion City Sailors.
When dad Sasi moved to Spain for work, he reached out to various La Liga clubs, and soon, Atletico offered a two-week trial to the brothers.
The club, it seems, have liked what they’ve seen so far. An Atletico academy spokesman told The Straits Times that Kyen’s best attributes are his speed and scoring ability, while Tylan is a “good dribbler” with a “very powerful shot”.
While Sasi is quick to temper expectations all around, he says his sons do share a dream of becoming professional footballers.
Come July, when the Summer Olympics in Paris rolls around, Singaporeans will be reminded that Shanti faces a tall order.
Though she hasn’t explicitly stated her targets in Paris, her aim, many would argue, would be to qualify for the final in her 200m pet event. That goal would require her to better her personal best time of 22.57s by 0.18s – at least. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the slowest qualifying time for the final eight sprinters was 22.40s.
But would you dare write the Singaporean sprint queen off? Maybe she’ll produce another banner year on the track.
Or maybe Louis will rewrite his own 100m record. Or Danisha will overcome overwhelming odds and step into an Olympic boxing ring. Or Amita will become Singapore’s first fencer to win a medal at the Olympics.
Or maybe, five or six years from now, we’ll see two Singapore-Indian footballers line up alongside Europe’s elite on the football pitch.
