Singapore athletes look towards coaching and mentorship roles, after Cambodia SEA Games swansong

PHNOM PENH: As the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games came to a close on Wednesday (May 17), the curtains also came down on the sporting careers of some Singapore athletes.

National volleyball player Quek Soo Teng and cyclist Calvin Sim have both represented the country in their respective sports for over a decade.

However, they will not be leaving the sports scene. Instead, they aim to impart their experience and knowledge to younger athletes as mentors and coaches.

Team Singapore had concluded the 18-day Games campaign with 51 gold, 43 silver and 64 bronze medals.

The country also hit the 1,000th gold milestone, when the women's 4x100m freestyle relay team emerged victorious on May 6. 

National swimmer Quah Ting Wen was also named as the best athlete of the Games during the closing ceremony.

For national volleyball player Quek Soo Teng, this year’s SEA Games was a fitting swansong. She spent over a decade donning the national colours, including competing in two SEA Games.

Her highlight of the recently concluded Games was when the Singapore team went two sets down against arch-rivals Malaysia, in the fifth-place play-off on May 14.

In the stifling Phnom Penh afternoon heat, her team dug deep to claw its way back into the match, before going on to steal the win.

“I’m actually very, very happy. It’s always nice to end your career on a high, especially with a win. And it's our rivals from a long time ago and to beat them at the SEA Games is really something that we wanted very much,” she told CNA.

The 36-year-old, who is the oldest in the team, is ready to make way for young blood, while giving back to the volleyball community here moving forward.

“I will look into coaching, maybe to help the national team, in terms of trainers for the