More than 2,000 scholarships have now been awarded to young Singaporean athletes since the inception of the Scholarship in 2010.

In total, the 2,093 scholarships amount to almost SGD$6 million (£3.4 million/$4.3 million/€3.9 million).

The Scholarship is the brainchild of Peter Lim, who remains the largest individual donor to a sports scholarship in Singapore.

Lim attended the award ceremony, joining SOF chairman Ng Ser Miang and special guest Abhinav Bindra, an Olympic gold medal-winning shooter for India at Beijing 2008, to present the scholarships.

The audience were treated to a special recorded message from 2012 Scholarship recipient Joseph Schooling.

Schooling, who won Olympic swimming gold in the men's 100 metres butterfly at Rio 2016, offered advice to the athletes.

Other notable recipients include ten-pin bowler Shayna Ng and fencer Lau Ywen.

"Over the last seven years, our Singapore Olympic Foundation-Peter Lim scholarship recipients such as Joseph Schooling, Shayna Ng and Lau Ywen have brought tremendous glory to Singapore excelling in their sports on the world stage," Miang said.

"We hope with the continued support from Mr Peter Lim, we are able to support more young athletes to aspire and follow in the footsteps of Joseph, Shayna and Ywen."

To qualify for the Scholarship, recipients have to meet a set of criteria, including scoring consistent results in relevant sports competitions.

The majority of the recipients come from financially-challenged backgrounds and demonstrate potential to excel in the sports they play.

This year, the SOF received 1,103 applications from 45 sports representing 189 schools in four categories; primary, secondary, tertiary and under-18 high performance.

Of the 335 athletes that qualified for the Scholarship, 43 are in the primary category, 95 are in the secondary category, 148 are in the tertiary category and 49 are in the under-18 high-performance category.

Sport climbers and ice skaters have been represented in the under-18 high-performance category for the first time since the inception of the Scholarship.

Among them is 17-year-old Mark Chan, who is eyeing a podium position at this year's Asian Youth Sport Climbing Championships, scheduled to take place in Singapore from July 5 to 9.

"I hope to be able to use the money from the Singapore Olympic Foundation-Peter Lim Scholarship to pay for more overseas competitions, sports medicine treatment like physiotherapy and climbing equipment," Chan said.

"With the support, I hope to have more competition exposure and prevent and manage my injuries and become a better athlete.

"I would like to qualify for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games and 2020 Olympic Games in the future."

Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence, was the guest of honour at the award ceremony, which was held at ITE College Central.

He presented the scholarships to recipients in the tertiary category.

Bindra, meanwhile, shared the story of his journey towards becoming a world champion in 2006 and Olympic champion two years later.

The 34-year-old became India's first individual Olympic gold medallist after winning the men's 10m air rifle event at Beijing 2008.

Bindra has also met with the national shooting team at the Singapore Sports Institute, sharing some tips and advice on shooting and competing at elite level.

National shooter and three-time Scholarship recipient Mohamad Irwan Bin Abdul Rahman, who recently set a new national record in the men's 10m air rifle event, is aiming to qualify for the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur.