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MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
12th Dec 2003
Sports Award Night 2003
Mr Charles Chong You Fook, Member of Parliament for Pasir Ris – Punggol GRC, will be the Guest-of-Honour at the annual Singapore Disability Sports Council’s (SDSC) Sports Awards Night this year. Mr Charles Chong will be presenting the awards at 8.15pm tomorrow, Friday 12th December 2003 at the Waterfront Plaza of the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Receiving the coveted ‘Sportsman of the Year’ award this year is Mr Azman Bin Yusof. Thirty-three year old Azman developed cerebral palsy due to a bad fall he suffered when he was a baby. Azman has never let his condition deter him from participating and enjoying an active life in sports. With a positive attitude towards life and a simple motto of ‘I Love Sports’, Azman has since gone on to represent Singapore and has competed in various championships in Malaysia, Bangkok, Beijing, England and most recently New Zealand in the International Stoke Mandeville World Wheelchair Games. In 1998, he was the winner of the SDSC’s ‘Sportsman of the Year Merit Award’. In 1999, Azman was appointed captain of the Singapore contingent to the Far East & South Pacific Games for the Disabled (FESPIC) in Bangkok.
Azman was a gold-medallist at the 1st ASEAN Para Games 2001 and the Malaysia Paralympiad Games 2000 and recently won a silver medal at the International Stoke Mandeville World Wheelchair Games in Christchurch, New Zealand. At the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, Azman came in seventh in the 100m sprint and collected 2 bronze medals in the 100m and 200m race at the 8th Far East & South Pacific Games for the Disabled 2002 (Busan, South Korea). The ‘Sportsman of the Year’ award will be Azman’s second after first receiving it in 2000.
Thirty-eight year old Ms Zaimoonisah Bte Mohamed Yussoff will be receiving her fourth ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ award this year after previously winning it in 1999, 2000 and 2002. Zaimoonisah, who is visually impaired, won a bronze medal at the International Blind Sports Association (IBSA) World Blind Championships and Games held in Quebec, Canada this year. The bubbly and affable Zaimoonisah has an impressive collection of gold medals which she won at the 1st ASEAN Para Games 2001 (Malaysia), Malaysia Paralympiad Games & Asian Capital Cities Invitation 2002 (Malaysia) and a silver medal from participation at the 8th Far East & South Pacific Games for the Disabled 2002 (Busan, South Korea). Zaimoonisah also completed a respectable 7th & 8th place finish in the 1km and 3km race at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
This year, the ‘Sportsgirl of the Year’ award goes to sixteen year old Ms Theresa Goh Rui Si of Dunman Secondary School. Theresa who is fresh from her 6 gold-medal haunt at the International Stoke Mandeville World Wheelchair Games (Christchurch, New Zealand) suffers from spinal bifida. In New Zealand, Theresa won gold medals in the Backstroke 50m, Breaststroke 100m, Butterfly 50m, Freestyle 100m, Freestyle 200m and the Freestyle 50m. Theresa won the ‘Best Sportswoman Award’ at the 1st ASEAN Para Games and the SDSC’s ‘Sportsgirl Merit Award’ in 2001. World-beater Theresa Goh has also done Singapore proud when she broke the world’s record in the Breaststroke 50m Category at the 1st ASEAN Para Games 2001 in Malaysia. A year later, Theresa Goh followed up her phenomenal success with a brace of Games’ records in the Freestyle 50m and 100m categories at the Commonwealth Games 2002 in Manchester, England.
Mr Tang Ngai Kin will be receiving this year’s ‘Coach of the Year’ award. Ngai Kin received his first ‘Coach of the Year’ award in 2000. Famed amongst the athletics circuit as a very dedicated coach, Ngai Kin has introduced and integrated many creative ideas into his coaching sessions to further improve the training programmes for able-bodied athletes as well as for the disabled. This has attributed to immense training progress and the personal developments of our athletes.
Recipients of the ‘Sportsman, Sportswoman and Sportsgirl of the Year’ awards will each receive $3000 and a trophy. Regretfully, there is no recipient for the ‘Sportsboy of the Year’ award this year as there are no medal winners for athletes who have participated in the International Paralympic Committee’s sanctioned games.
The cash prize money which serves as an incentive to motivate our athletes to perform well at international games is put up by the Singapore Disability Sports Council with sponsorship from John Hancock Life Assurance Co Ltd, a corporate organization who is a strong supporter of the SDSC’s mission objectives and its sports development programmes.
Mr Frankie Thanapal Sinniah PBM, who was recently awarded the National Sports Associations’ ‘Certificate of Commendation’ in recognition of his unwavering dedication and significant contributions to disabled sports will be awarded with the ‘Sportsman of the Year Merit Award’. Mr Frankie Thanapal Sinniah has repeatedly done Singapore proud with his medal-winning performances at various regional and international events. Other ‘Sportsman of the Year Merit Award’ recipients are Dr Wong Meng Ee (swimming) and Mr Indra Saifudin (Athletics). The ‘Sportsboy of the Year Merit Award’ will be awarded to Mr Lim Keng Joo.