SINGAPORE: Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) deputy president Poh Li San is in the running to become the association’s new chief.
Ms Poh, who is also a Member of Parliament for Sembawang GRC, announced this on Friday (Aug 19) during a media session at STTA’s headquarters in Toa Payoh.
STTA president Ellen Lee will be stepping down after the end of her current term. She was elected in 2014 and has since served four terms.
The STTA general elections, which are held once every two years, will be held at a closed-door annual general meeting on Aug 29.
“I’ve always been an athlete and sportsperson since young … Now that I am at an older age, I don’t do competitive sports anymore, I feel that now I have a different role to play,” said Ms Poh.
“I can help younger players who are in that competitive sports space to really unleash their full potential.”
Ms Poh used to be in the track and field team and played badminton in school. She has also participated in marathons.
The 47-year-old said that her short-term goals would be to prepare the table tennis team well for major tournaments such as the SEA Games and Asian Games next year, as well as to improve talent identification and development pathways for young talents to be selected.
If elected, Ms Poh also hopes to work with companies to find possible career avenues for table tennis players during and after their time representing Singapore.
Aside from building a stronger national team, she also stressed the need to continue to instil values such as sportsmanship.
“She has very refreshing ideas and coming from an athlete’s point of view, I think these are very valid things,” said Ms Lee, who added that she had similarly emphasised such values during her time as president.
Ms Poh praised Ms Lee and her team for doing a “tremendous” job over the years, given the overall transition to younger players in the national squads.
“We want to carry on the good foundation that Ellen and her exco (executive committee) have carried out in the past years of their leadership. And going forward, definitely there is a lot more to do to make sure that our young team – both men’s and women’s team – will become even better,” said Ms Poh, adding that she was unaware of any challengers for the role.
“I hope that they become world-class, a world-class table tennis team.”