Double joy as Singapore floorball wins big at SEA Games

Singapore's floorball men in action against Malaysia in their SEA Games final. (Yahoo Photo)

They badly want a place for their sport at the 2015 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games to be held in Singapore.

Now, with their powerful performance at the ongoing SEA Games in Myanmar, Singapore's national floorball teams have done more than prove themselves legitimate title-winning prospects for future editions.

The men and women won their finals by whopping 11-1 and 7-1 margins respectively, and also took time to help train the host country's inexperienced players, who were assembled from the Burmese hockey team.

It was a move that may help secure more than the required minimum of four participating nations for a sport to be included at the SEA Games, and move floorball closer to wider recognition around the region.

Aside from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are proficient in the sport, but it came down to a Causeway tussle for two golds - albeit uncounted in the official medal tally, as floorball is being played for demonstration at this year's Games.

Singapore's floorball players line up before their match in the near-empty Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium. (Yahoo ...

The men, led by skipper Akmal Shaharudin, were 6-1 up against Malaysia by the first 20-minute period, and effortlessly controlled the remainder of the game to run out 11-1 winners.

'It's exciting and prestigious for us to be here at our first SEA Games,' said Akmal, a student at Temasek Polytechnic.

Still only 18, he told Yahoo he was hopeful and raring to go for the next edition, which will be played on home ground if the sport earns inclusion on the line-up.

Men's coach Saravanan Rajamanikam, 34, also has his eye on 2015, and expressly set out to blood his boys - their mean age is 23 - for future battles to come.

His is a goal shared by the women's team, which is also in the process of developing young talent, according to captain Syafizah Safii and coach Jaime Cheong.

Cheong, 31, an ex-player from Singapore's pioneering batch of 1997, said their maiden experience at this SEA Games would be an 'excellent stepping stone' - not just to 2015, but the global stage of the World University Championships which the Lion City will host next year.

Catch all the action at the 2013 SEA Games from 5 - 22 December in Myanmar, here on Yahoo Singapore.