Singaporeans will be spoilt for choice during the 11-country South-east Asian (SEA) Games in June, when ASEAN’s ace athletes gather in the Republic to jostle for 402 gold medals.

On Monday, the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) approved a provisional list of 950 athletes to represent Singapore in all 36 sports to be contested. The final contingent of Singaporean athletes, to be decided by mid-April, is likely to be 800-plus, well above the record of 483, set in 1993 when we last hosted the Games.

That same year, Singapore enjoyed its best-ever haul of 50 gold medals, which came from fewer than 320 events in 29 sports. Come June, Singaporeans will likely expect more than 50 golden victories from Team Singapore.

Here are some key events to attend.

Water Polo

If you enjoy watching Team Singapore athletes strike gold, listening to Majulah Singapura and seeing the crescent moon and five stars rise above other state flags, go watch the men’s water polo team.

Since water polo became a Games event in 1965, Singapore has generated a ‘tsunami’ of victories, winning gold every time. You’ll certainly feel a surge of patriotic inspiration when our national team in Speedos go for their 26th consecutive gold medal.

Perhaps our water-polo kings embody the Singapore spirit best, with their never-say-die attitude producing unending success.

Netball

While water polo is the only team sport in which Singapore has won an Asian Games gold, netball is the only team sport in which the Republic is a multiple continental champion.

Our netball ladies have scored a hat-trick of continental conquests. The most recent came last September when they retained their 2012 crown by defeating four-time champion Sri Lanka in the Asian Championships final.

The only time the SEA Games saw netball action was in 2001, when Singapore had to settle for silver after losing to Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.

Expect another Causeway battle for gold, given that Malaysia was the only other ASEAN team to have reached last year’s Asian Championships semi-finals.

Football

Unlike its netball counterpart, Singapore football is no Asian powerhouse. Nevertheless, I’d go watch the Under-23 Lions as long as the two bin Fandis in the 43-strong provisional squad make the final cut of 20.

While I’m doubtful that Singapore will win a historic first football gold, watching Fandi Ahmad’s teenage sons Irfan and Ikhsan play in the SEA Games should be a treat in itself.

Don’t expect to find empty seats at the National Stadium if Singapore performs above expectations and reaches the final. It will be our first appearance in the gold-medal match since the men’s football event became an under-23 competition in 2001.

The senior national team last played in the final in 1989, losing 1-3 after extra-time to Malaysia.

Table Tennis

Losing to our Causeway neighbours isn’t exactly a concern for our paddlers.

The question is whether SNOC will allow the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) to pick only native-born players for the singles events, a move I had called for in my previous article.

STTA has less than three months to pick its final men’s and women’s squads (five players each) from its provisional list of seven male (two Singapore-born) and eight female (four native-born) paddlers.

If both STTA and SNOC agree to have Isabelle Li and Clarence Chew lead Singapore’s quest for gold in the women’s and men’s singles events, you’ll very likely witness the first native-born Singaporean winning a singles gold since the only one to have done so - Patricia Kim in 1985.

Swimming

Like table tennis, swimming is expected to contribute much golden shine to Team Singapore.

One swimmer eager to make a huge splash is Joseph Schooling. Last year, he became the first Singaporean swimmer to win an Asian Games gold since Ang Peng Siong in 1982 and the first Singaporean to win a Commonwealth Games swimming medal.

Schooling managed to have his National Service deferred in 2013 until the end of next year’s Olympic Games, in order to concentrate on battling for Olympic glory. The 19-year-old is widely regarded as Singapore’s best-ever hope of winning an Olympic swimming medal.

Top photo from SEA Games website.