TODAY features three national athletes who are making their debuts at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia from Aug 18 to Sept 2.

Rower Joan Poh, 27, teenage swimmer Gan Ching Hwee, 15, and 82-year-old contract bridge player Jane Choo talk about their pre-game jitters, their goals, and what competing in the region's biggest and most prestigious sports event means to them. 

JAKARTA — Grandmother-of-five Jane Choo is possibly the only athlete in Team SG at the Asian Games who need not have to watch what she eats and drinks during her training.

The 82-year-old, who enjoys travelling, reading and watching movies in her free time, is competing at the 2018 Asian Games for the first time as a contract bridge player.

She has been playing the card game for more than 50 years, and finally made it to the quadrennial Games because this is the first time that bridge is part of the 40-sport roster in Indonesia.

Choo, who was born in 1935 before the first edition of the Asian Games was held in 1951 in New Delhi, India, is not even the oldest player competing at the 2018 Games. That honour goes to Kong Te Yang of the Philippines, who is 85.

Contract bridge has some of the oldest sporting talents among the 17,000 athletes competing at the Games, with three players aged above 80, 11 aged 70 to 79 — including Indonesian billionaire tobacco tycoon Michael Bambang Hartono, who is 78 — and 30 players who are aged 60 to 69.

While some may scoff at the idea of card-playing, saying it is not a physical sport, they had better not tell that to Choo.

The former school teacher told TODAY: "Anyone who has any doubt that bridge is competitive has only to attend our normal weekly event and regular competitions to be convinced (that it is)."

At the 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia, Choo took home a silver in the women's team event. The octogenarian is hoping for more medal glory when she returns to the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Aug 26 to compete with the women's team.

"I'm very honoured and excited to compete in my first Asian Games. I hope to do Singapore proud, and try to win a medal."

Choo, who has two sons and a daughter aged 56 to 61, and five adult grandchildren, started playing the game when she was 30 because she found it "intellectually stimulating".

She has since spent the last five decades mastering her game and in 2008, she attained world master standing — a ranking awarded by the World Bridge Federation to players who have competed and finished in the top three in a number of local and international tournaments.

To brush up her skills, Choo reads "a good number of bridge books and journals", and plays "at least weekly" with her partners at the Singapore Contract Bridge Association.

She may be the oldest among the women's team — the other Singapore players are aged 28 to 70 — but Choo said that they hardly think of their age as an issue.

"Bridge is a mind game, and playing it regularly will ensure the continued use of one's intellectual faculties," she said.

No one has tried to call her "grandma", she added. "Sometimes I feel very old. But then again, it sometimes doesn't bother me at all.

"I hope to be able to play bridge as long as I can, both physical and mental fitness permitting."

Popular in the host country Indonesia, contract bridge is one of 10 sports making their first showing at the 2018 Asian Games. The rest are: 3-on-3 basketball, jet skiing, paragliding, Indonesian martial arts pencak silat, martial arts forms ju-jitsu, sambo and kurash, rock climbing and roller sports. E-sports will also premiere in Indonesia, but only as a demonstration event.

First-timers from Team SG gear up for Asian Games

Read about 15-year-old swimmer Gan Ching Hwee's journey to the Games here: No curry, no cry, swimmer Ching Hwee focused on making waves

And rower Joan Poh's long, lonely journey, but she's not giving up on her dream.