SINGAPORE — The SEA Games men’s basketball bronze medal that Singapore won last Saturday has not only ended the Basketball Association of Singapore’s (BAS) 34-year medal drought at the biennial meet, it has also broken a major psychological barrier for the team.

Now, the BAS wants to win the gold when Singapore hosts the 2015 SEA Games.

“It has been 34 years since we won the bronze at the SEA Games (Jakarta, 1979) and as a result, we have broken through a psychological barrier,” said BAS Deputy President Hoo Boon Hock. “It has given us the confidence to look forward to the next Games in 2015 and target the gold medal.”

The BAS will form a taskforce, chaired by BAS President David Ong, to formulate a roadmap for victory in 2015 and identify the support the national side requires. This year, the national squad went on training stints to China and the Philippines to prepare for the Games. In 2015, the BAS plans to organise a regional tournament with top clubs from Malaysia and Thailand.

“This competition will be a prelude to our plan to introduce semi-professional club basketball in Singapore,” said Hoo. “The BAS will put up a team drawn from the national squad. This way, we will be exposing the players to top-level competition.”

The BAS also plans to hire several physical trainers to build up the players’ physiques to better handle the demands of modern-day basketball. It will approach the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) for funding once it has finalised its plans.

The SSC did not reveal its funding figures for all sports for the current fiscal year, but basketball received between S$500,000 and S$1.5 million for fiscal year 2012/13.

Although he acknowledged it will be tough for Singapore to win gold in two years’ time, Hoo feels the Republic’s narrow 75-88 loss to regional kingpins the Philippines and their 62-48 and 71-67 wins over Indonesia and Malaysia, respectively, mean they are closing the gap with their rivals. He also believes the likes of 18-year-old Goh Kok Chiang, who is 2m tall, forward Lim Sheng Yu, 23, and captain Desmond Oh, 27, will be at their peak by 2015.

“We have shown at this SEA Games that we are capable of beating them,” he said. “The gold is the target but even if we cannot achieve it, we still want to improve on the bronze we won in Myanmar.” DAN GUEN CHIN

Singapore’s results at the SEA Games

- lost 59-69 to Thailand

- lost 75-88 to the Philippines

- bt Malaysia 71-67

- bt Indonesia 62-48

- bt Cambodia 99-43

- bt Myanmar 89-52