Chess included in list of 16 sports for 2017 Asean Para Games

KUALA LUMPUR: The 9th Asean Para Games hosted by Kuala Lumpur in 2017 will feature 16 sports with Chess officially included in the biennial Games from Sept 17 to 23.

Asean Para Sports Federation (APSF) in a statement today endorsed chess as one of the sports to be contested in the week-long Games following its Exco and Board of Governors (BoG) meetings held in Kuala Lumpur last month.

Sailing, originally proposed to be included as one of the 16 sports by the Local Organising Committee (LOC) has been dropped.

APSF President Maj. Gen. Osoth Bhavilai said the agreement was reached following a meeting held between APSF and the Malaysian SEA Games Organising Committee (MASOC) in Kuala Lumpur.
Bhavilai and Secretary-General Charnvit Munikanond led the APSF delegation while MASOC was represented by Chief Executive Officer Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong and Technical Chairman John Ng, who is also the Deputy President of the Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPM).

Events and disciplines to be contested in each sports will be finalised at a later date after consultation with International Federations and Technical Delegates of the respective sports.

Chess is considered as one of the popular sports within the Asean Paralympic fraternity and was included based on the Expression of Interest (EOI) findings conducted by APSF.

The 9th Asean Para Games is expected to feature more than 350 events with the participation of close to 3,000 athletes and officials from all 11 Asean nations including provisional member Timor-Leste.

Final list of sports for the 9th Asean Para Games Kuala Lumpur 2017:
1. Archery
2. Athletics
3. Badminton
4. Boccia
5. Chess
6. Cycling
7. Football 5-a-side
8. Football 7-a-side
9. Goalball
10. Powerlifting
11. Volleyball-Sitting
12. Swimming
13. Table Tennis
14. Tenpin Bowling
15. Wheelchair Tennis
16. Wheelchair Basketball

— Bernama