11 athletes to watch at SEA Games 2025
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(Clockwise from top left) Thai boxer Janjaem Suwannapheng, Malaysian mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei, and Philippine weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz.
PHOTOS: JANJAEM SUWANNAPHENG/INSTAGRAM, AFP, EPA
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- Thailand's flag bearers include Paris 2024 bronze medallist boxer Janjaem Suwannapheng and badminton star Kunlavut Vitidsarn at the upcoming Games in Thailand.
- Several athletes aim to extend dominance; Nguyen Huy Hoang seeks fifth consecutive SEA Games gold, while Sayu Bella could extend Indonesia's cycling success.
- Hidilyn Diaz returns to reclaim weightlifting gold and Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei aim to continue their world champion form after reuniting.
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From Olympic medallists to world champions, here’s one athlete or a pair from each nation to look out for at the Dec 9-20 Games in Thailand.
Thailand: Janjaem Suwannapheng (boxing)
Janjaem Suwannapheng, who won a bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics, will be the host country’s flag bearer alongside 24-year-old badminton star Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
PHOTO: JANJAEM SUWANNAPHENG/INSTAGRAM
The Royal Thai Air Force pilot announced her arrival at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia by winning the women’s light middleweight gold medal. Her women’s welterweight bronze at Paris 2024 extended Thailand’s proud record of winning a boxing medal at every Olympics since Montreal 1976, with the only exceptions coming in Moscow 1980 and Rio 2016. The 25-year-old will be the hosts’ flag bearer alongside badminton star Kunlavut Vitidsarn, 24.
Vietnam: Nguyen Huy Hoang (swimming)
Nguyen Huy Hoang with his freestyle medals won at the 2025 Asian Aquatics Championships - golds in the 800m and 1,500m and a 400m silver.
PHOTO: NGUYEN HUY HOANG/FACEBOOK
Vietnam’s top male swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang is aiming to add to the 11 SEA Games gold medals he has collected since his 2017 debut and will be backing himself to retain the three freestyle golds he clinched in the men’s 400m, 1,500m and 4x200m in 2023. Expectations have risen further since he won the 800m and 1,500m titles at the Sept 28-Oct 11 Asian Aquatics Championships. His coach Nguyen Hoang Vu believes the 25-year-old could become the first male swimmer from Vietnam to win gold medals in five consecutive SEA Games.
Indonesia: Sayu Bella (cycling)
Indonesia’s Sayu Bella won the women’s cross-country and mixed cross-country events at the Cambodia Games in 2023.
PHOTO: SAYU BELLA/INSTAGRAM
The Indonesians are looking to extend their cycling dominance at the SEA Games and mountain biker Sayu Bella, 22, could play a key role as she had won the women’s cross-country and mixed cross-country events at the 2023 edition.
She is also teammates with Singaporean biker Riyadh Hakim at professional racing team Asia Union TCS, the only team in Asia registered with international cycling body Union Cycliste Internationale.
Cambodia: Chhun Bunthorn (athletics)
Chhun Bunthorn upset the odds and won Cambodia’s first track gold at the 2023 SEA Games when he prevailed in the men’s 800m.
PHOTO: CHHUN BUNTHORN/INSTAGRAM
After losing both his parents by 19 and having to work in a farm to support himself, Chhun Bunthorn, now 32, overcame obstacles to reach the top of the SEA Games podium. That included giving up his studies as he could not afford the fees. At his home Games in 2023, he upset the odds and won Cambodia’s first track gold when he prevailed in the men’s 800m and will be aiming to make more history in Thailand.
The Philippines: Hidilyn Diaz (weightlifting)
Filipina weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz created history at Tokyo 2020 by becoming her country’s first Olympic champion when she won the women's 55kg snatch event.
PHOTO: EPA
Filipina weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, 34, will be returning to SEA Games action after missing out on the 2023 edition, when the Tokyo Olympic gold medallist focused on qualifying for the Paris Games. She will be seeking to reclaim her women’s 55kg gold.
Singapore: Maximilian Maeder (sailing)
Singapore kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder is looking forward to competing at his first SEA Games.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Singapore kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder will be aiming to end his year on a high, after failing to retain his Formula Kite World Championships title and finishing fourth at the Youth Kite World Championships – placing outside the podium in an official event for the first time since 2021. The 19-year-old, who won an Olympic bronze at Paris 2024, will be looking to make it a memorable SEA Games debut.
Malaysia: Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei (badminton)
Malaysia’s Toh Ee Wei (left) and Chen Tang Jie split in March due to “irreconcilable differences” but reunited in April and have gone on to win their country's first badminton world championships mixed doubles gold in August.
PHOTO: AFP
Citing “irreconcilable differences” and on-court issues, mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie (far right) and Toh Ee Wei split in March, with Toh deleting their photos from her Instagram page. But they reunited a month later, following criticism of their high-profile separation from Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh and became Malaysia’s first mixed doubles world champions in August.
Myanmar: Pauk Sa (billiards)
Myanmar's Pauk Sa (right) has gotten the better of Singapore's Peter Gilchrist at the last two SEA Games English billiards singles in 2022 and 2023.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Myanmar’s Pauk Sa announced himself to the world of English billiards in 2022, when he ended Singapore’s Peter Gilchrist’s 13-year stranglehold on the SEA Games men’s singles title in Hanoi. The veteran, now 66, proved it was no fluke by defeating Gilchrist again at the 2023 Games in Cambodia and will be going for a three-peat in Thailand.
Laos: Bovilak Thepphakan (petanque)
Petanque athlete 30-year-old Bovilak Thepphakan has emerged as one of Laos' best and has one gold, one silver and four bronzes at the SEA Games since 2013.
PHOTO: BOVILAK THEPPHAK/FACEBOOK
In recent years, Bovilak Thepphakan has emerged as one of Laos’ most accomplished petanque players, with one gold, one silver and four bronzes at the SEA Games since 2013. She won two silvers and one bronze at the world championships in 2019 and 2023. The 30-year-old will be looking to add to her medal collection.
Brunei: Basma and Walid Lachkar (wushu)
(From left) Siblings Walid and Basma Lachkar have blazed a trail even as they hunt for their first SEA Games gold medals.
PHOTO: BASMA LACHKAR/INSTAGRAM
Born to a Moroccan father and Bruneian mother, Basma and Walid Lachkar have blazed a trail even as they hunt for their first SEA Games gold. Big sister Basma, 22, is a taijijian and taijiquan exponent whose medal haul includes a gold at the 2022 World Games and an Asian Games silver in 2023. Brother Walid, 21, competes in daoshu and changquan and finished with one gold and one silver at the 2024 World Junior Championships.
Timor-Leste: Felisberto de Deus (athletics)
Felisberto de Deus made history at the Hanoi Games in 2022 when he ended Timor-Leste’s long wait for a SEA Games medal in athletics.
PHOTO: ATHLETICS PODIUM
Felisberto de Deus, 26, made history at the Hanoi Games in 2022 when he claimed two silver medals in the men’s 5,000m and 10,000m to end Timor-Leste’s long wait for a SEA Games medal in athletics. After finishing sixth and fifth in the 5,000m and 10,000m respectively in 2023, he will be looking to return to the podium. He won a 5,000m bronze at the 2024 Asean University Games in Indonesia.
