WTA Finals Singapore 2015 @ Singapore Sports Hub

The Singapore Sports Hub is a massive S$1.3 billion construction.
Impressive and built with a clear purpose of propelling Singapore into the limelight in the world of sports, it houses a 55,000 capacity National Stadium and is Singapore’s largest all-weather sports and events venue.

While the new National Stadium is the jewel in its crown, the 35-hectare Singapore Sports Hub also includes world-class facilities; an Olympic-sized aquatic centre, a multi-purpose indoor arena, a water sports centre, hard court for basketball and a skate park, just to name a few.
For leisure the Singapore Sports Museum, a sports library and of course a shopping mall with a cool indoor climbing wall plus all the necessary hips brands made this part of Kallang the latest, coolest (or sportiest) place to hang out.

Well, the shopping mall is for sure. There are plenty of sports related brand names here as well as trendy fashion names.

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BELOW: Venue map of the Sports Hub. Image copyright: sportshub.com.sg

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As expected of Singapore, the National Stadium was built taking into consideration of all eventuality and with the latest technology.
A retractable roof covers 95% of the seats, takes about 20 minutes to open or close, and is made of cutting-edge weather-resistant material that blocks out the sun’s heat as well as the rain.
And that’s not all; the roof also doubles as a giant projector screen!

BELOW: The giant dome with retractable roof. Image copyright: sportshub.com.sg

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Lest you think it is all about sports, the rearrangeable seating on the lowest tier of seats can be mechanically and automatically retracted, making the National Stadium the only stadium in the world able to accommodate events from football, rugby, cricket and athletics, to concerts, cultural shows and community events at any time in the year.
It was the venue for Singapore Mandopop superstar Stefanie Sun in July 2015 and Jay Chou’s world tour on November 8. It is in fact hosting the Taylor Swift concert this coming weekend!

The National Stadium also holds the record of the largest dome structure in the world with a dome of 312 metres in diameter. During the opening on June 28 the Singapore Chinese Orchestra break the Guinness world record for largest Chinese Drum Ensemble, with over 4557 musicians from school and community groups performing at the mega-concert within this dome structure.

We took a quick tour of the place, went shopping at the Kallang Wave Mall, played at the swings and watched the WTA Finals practise sessions with some furkids and well, fans of all ages.
All in all, Singapore Sports Hub is a contained humongous space almost like a small town.

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BELOW : In Kallang Mall with the background of the wall-climbing facility.

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BELOW: Practise session in the indoor, air conditioned tennis courts for the players.

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We had lunch at Crab in da Bag where the food was crazily fresh and delicious but there are many more budget-friendly alternatives in the Kallang Mall as well.

Crab in da Bag; where the freshly cooked seafood are poured onto the table and you are supposed to tuck into the mound of seafood with gusto using your hands.
This is a nautical-themed, seafood feast!

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We shared the Titanic Pot (SGD299) for 4 pax.
In Louisiana fashion, the crustaceans (Boston lobster, Sri Lankan crab, Alaskan king crab legs, yabbies, tiger prawns, Boston Bay mussels, Venus clams and bratwurst) are boiled with a mix of secret spices but the natural sweetness of the seafood are pretty much left intact.
The clams were sweet, the crab meat moist and juicy and the prawns bouncy to bite.
A variety of vegetables (corn on the cob, potatoes, onions and lemons) are added to the pot as sides.

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After a satisfying meal, we spent some play time at the Fun Zone where different booths were set up for tennis related interactive games.
All of these are open to public with no charges involved so it is highly encouraged to come and join in the entertainment.

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First up, the OCBC Virtual Reality Interactive Tennis Experience! This is one of the 5 booths in the Fan Zone and I found it quite fun.
Specially developed for the WTAFinalsSG, fans get a rare opportunity to wear a VR headset & play a game of tennis!

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Some of the booths reward you with goodies such as movie tickets so do give it your best shot. Or rather in this case, your best SERVE!
Take the challenge at StarHub Super Speed Power Serve and vie to be one of the top 3 participants with the fastest serve and win a pair of movie tickets!

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Fanatic tennis fans might want to have all the WTA Finals insights at the fingertips.

The SAP’s Match Center @ the Fan Zone is an interactive display giving fans access to relevant information about WTAFinals , from virtual match replays, to stats and player profiles. It’s a great way to stay on the pulse of all the action during the tournament.

Also look out for the return of the SAP Social Wall, an interactive display that will aggregate all social activity around the tournament. Fans can post messages and follow conversations around their favorite players and other trending topics.
And finally, don’t forget to download the WTA Finals app, powered by SAP!

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Specially for kids (yes, they refused to let me play!), the game here involves choosing your color paint & whack the ball to make one of the coolest grand splat canvas in town. This is also known as “Tennis for Every Child GRAND SPLAT “.

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This was another fun booth by BNP Paribas.
Receive a freeze-frame snapshot of yourself in an interesting illusion of dynamism captured in a still photograph. Fancy yourself a tennis super star? Swing that tennis racket and have your swing freeze-frame captured at the booth!
Maybe I have a talent for tennis after all?

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The result! Cool isn’t it?

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After all the shopping, photo fun and walking around, it was finally time to head into The Racquet Club for dinner and then the stadium for the opening ceremony and the first match of the WTA Finals which is between Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwanska.
Stay tuned for the story as I’ll be publishing it soon!

Singapore Sports Hub,
Stadium Boulevard, Kallang, Singapore 271003
+65 6653 8900
www.sportshub.com.sg
MRT: It is served by its very own MRT station on the Circle Line, which will deposit you right outside the Kallang Wave mall.

** This is an opportunity made possible by migme (join the community –> http://mig.me/!), a fun mobile entertainment platform with services Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

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