S’pore’s Jovin Tan clinches boccia silver at Asian Para Games, Jeralyn Tan bags bronze

SINGAPORE – Former Paralympic sailor turned boccia player Jovin Tan showed that he is equally adept on land as he is on water, as he clinched silver in the men’s individual BC1 event at the Asian Para Games on Oct 21.

At the Nagoya General Gymnasium’s Rainbow Hall, world No. 6 Tan lost 4-1 to Thailand’s two-time defending champion Witsanu Huadpradit in the final.

Down 3-0 after the first two ends, Tan, sporting bright pink hair and spectacles, was presented a glimmer of hope when he won the third end 1-0, but was eventually defeated by the 12th-ranked Thai.

Fellow Singaporean Jeralyn Tan, a silver medallist at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, also finished on the podium in the women’s individual BC1 event, after a dominant 6-1 win over Iran’s Neda Ghayebi in the third-place play-off.

Singapore now have three medals in boccia across five editions of the Asiad.

Toh Sze Ning, Nurlasyiqah Mohd Taha and Faye Lim won the Republic’s first Asian Para Games medal at the 2018 Jakarta Games, with their silver in the mixed BC3 pairs.

Singapore are guaranteed at least another silver at this edition, with Aloysius Gan also advancing to the final of the men’s BC3 individual event.

With his silver, four-time Paralympian Tan now has medals in two different sports at the continental showpiece, having also clinched the double-handed Hansa 303 title with Yap Qian Yin at the 2014 Incheon Games.

Tan, who has cerebral palsy, picked up boccia in 2022 to chase his dream of winning a medal at the Paralympics after sailing was dropped from the event’s programme following the 2016 edition.

The 40-year-old has enjoyed success on the international stage since making the switch, picking up gold medals at the 2025 Canberra World Boccia Challenger and 2026 Asean Para Games.