The 9th ASEAN Para Games Kuala Lumpur 2017 will feature 16 sports with Chess officially included in the biennial Games scheduled in Kuala Lumpur from Sept 17 to 23 next year.
Asean Para Sports Federation (APSF), the regional governing body, has 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 taken out of the Games roster.
In confirming the final list of 16 sports for the 2017 Games, APSF President Maj Gen Osoth Bhavilai said the agreement was reached following a special meeting held between APSF and the Local Organising Committee, known as MASOC, in Kuala Lumpur.
Maj Gen Osoth and Secretary-General Charnvit Munikanond led the APSF delegation while MASOC was represented by Chief Executive Officer Dato’ 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 finalized at a later date after consultation with International Federations (IFs) 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 Kuala Lumpur 2017 Games, the third edition to be hosted by Malaysia, will see the biggest number of sports to be contested since the inception of the Games in 2001. Previous host Singapore had 15 sports contested in 2015 while Myanmar 2014 and Solo 2011 had 12 at 11 sports respectively.
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 9th ASEAN Para Games Kuala Lumpur 2017
- Archery
- Athletics
- Badminton
- Boccia
- Chess
- Cycling
- Football 5-a-side
- Football 7-a-side
- Goalball
- Powerlifting
- Volleyball-Sitting
- Swimming
- Table Tennis
- Tenpin Bowling
- Wheelchair Tennis
- Wheelchair Basketball
