SINGAPORE – A glittering moment for Singapore’s Valorant team as they clinched a historic e-sports gold medal at the SEA Games on Thursday had its sheen tarnished slightly within hour.

Singapore had been awarded the gold after Indonesia forfeited Wednesday night’s grand final of the Mixed Valorant (PC) team event final, sparking a furore among Indonesian fans.

The Singapore team, comprising Ayrton “artn” Soh, Yeoh “Divine” Chun Ting, Ingram “FREY” Tan, Marcus “nephh” Tan Rodman “vera” Yap and Tidus “STYRON” Goh, had taken the first game 13-8 in the best-of-three series at Olympia Mall and were leading 10-4 in the second game – only for the grand final to be postponed indefinitely owing to a dispute.

Indonesia had filed a complaint alleging that Singapore had used a Cypher bug that allowed them to see their rivals’ positions.

According to Singapore Esports Association (SGEA) secretary general Kelvin Tan, the tournament rules did not state that the placement of the character Cypher’s camera was illegal.

Deliberations went on for a few hours, with teams staying at the venue past 3am.

With still no ruling made, the teams were told to return on Thursday at 8am.

When the final resumed, the technical official made the decision to restart the match with the score at 5-5, but the Indonesian team walked off the stage minutes after it started, resulting in Singapore being given the gold medal.

But Tan said a mediator told both teams that there was a procedure to follow if the final was to be forfeited.

With their flight back to Singapore scheduled for Thursday afternoon, the teams then settled on the gold medal being jointly awarded.

Tan said: “The boys have fought hard the past three days and they did their best, they definitely deserved the gold because they put in a lot of hard work and effort to get into the final.

“Of course, we would’ve loved it if it were a solo gold. It would’ve been the perfect high point for e-sports in Singapore.”

Before the decision was made, Goh revealed that he had received threats on social media.

The SGEA Instagram page was also flooded with comments from angry Indonesian fans, with many accusing the Singapore team of cheating.

A Singapore National Olympic Council spokesman said: “We are pleased to win Singapore’s first gold medal in e-sports, and would like to commend our Valorant team on a solid performance.

“We accept the organiser’s decision on awarding joint gold medals to both Singapore and Indonesia, and offer our congratulations to our friends at Komite Olimpiade Indonesia.”

Singapore had emerged as the third seeds after victories over Indonesia, Cambodia and Malaysia in the group stage.

They then booked their spot in the final after a 2-0 triumph over Vietnam – to whom they had lost by two points in the opening match – in the semi-finals earlier on Wednesday.

This is Singapore’s first gold in e-sports since it was introduced as a medal event at the biennial Games in 2019.

The Republic had come close at the previous two editions of the competition. In 2019, Thomas Kopankiewicz clinched silver in Starcraft II, while the Republic also finished second in the League of Legends: Wild Rift (women’s team) in 2022.

Valorant, a first-person tactical-hero shooter game, was introduced to the SEA Games in 2023.