Singapore vows to get serious about sport

DOHA, Dec 13 (Reuters) Not content with a record medal haul at the Asian Games, Singapore has vowed to get serious about sport.

The city state's 132 athletes have won five gold, five silver and 10 bronze medals so far at the 15th Games in Doha, and its sports chief says now is the time to develop sporting talent.

''The key lesson that I learned from this trip is that we really need either full-time, professional or extremely serious sportsmen,'' said Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore's Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports.

''The days of sports as a hobby are over,'' he told Channel News Asia.

While Singapore has made huge strides in developing its economy and infrastructure, the city of 4.4 million people has lagged in the sporting arena.

But in Doha it has surpassed its best tally from the 1951 and 2002 Games and it expects to land two more golds in sailing today.

Singapore's gold medallists in Doha will reportedly receive at least 300,000 dollar each from a government Olympic award programme.

Balakrishnan said Singapore had plenty of sporting talent but there was no proper system in place to develop and nurture future gold medallists.

''It is our duty to make sure that we have a system that really enables the potential of these talents to be fulfilled in its entirety,'' he said.

''That means paying more attention to leadership, systems and coaching, and will require the ministry, sports council, sports associations and parents to work closely together.'' Balakrishnan also said it was a little too soon to talk about hosting a major international Games.

''We are only looking at hosting the SEA (South East Asian) Games at the moment and I think we should just take it one step at a time,'' he said.

Reuters SAM DS1402