More News from the 2009 UIPM Congress

Here's the gist of the key decisions made during the recently held congress in Copenhagen. President of SIMPA, Nicholas Fang and Assistant Secretary General, Anthony Tsang represented SIMPA at the Congress. Full news report may be found here.

• Laser pistols will be introduced in 2010, making their first test and transition appearances at international competitions such as the 2010 World Cup Finals and the inaugural 2010 Youth Olympic Games. The UIPM will make a decision in January 2011 whether or not to officially adopt laser pistols;
• Rule change not to allow full body suits for swimming competition;
• Singapore's membership with the UIPM; and
• Burundi's progress report

Hi Five to SIMPA's official recognition!

Jianghan with a Victory sign for SIMPA
On 10 October the UIPM, which is the international body for modern pentathlon, officially accepted Singapore as a federation member at the 2009 UIPM Congress held in Copenhagen. This is a significant step for Singapore and SIMPA as we gear towards the inaugural Youth Olympics in August 2010. Hopefully this, coupled with the appointment of Singapore's Ng Ser Miang as one of the 4 new IOC Vice Presidents, will help boost the sport in Singapore in terms of participation, high performance, funding/sponsorship and recognition.

The Pent Teens begin range practice

On Sunday 4 October 2009, our Pent Teen squad met at the SAFRA Yishun Indoor Weapons Range for their first go at firing the air pistols. The team met Coach Gai who gave them a pep talk and to introduce them to the basics of weapon handling and the nature of the 10m air pistol event.
The Pent Teens took to the weapons quickly, with some of them managing a decent grouping while some trying to find their proper coordination techniques.