Former national para-sailor Jovin Tan wins gold at Montreal 2026 World Boccia Cup

SINGAPORE – Four years after switching from sailing to boccia, Singapore’s Jovin Tan reaped the biggest fruit of his labour by claiming gold at the Montreal 2026 World Boccia Cup on Labour Day.

At the Arena Maurice-Richard in Montreal, Canada, the world No. 15 was in red-hot form as he won all his six matches in the BC1 male category of the first World Boccia event of the season, beating five higher-ranked opponents along the way.

The 39-year-old told The Sunday Times: “Before coming here, I set my own target of a podium finish.

“I didn’t give myself any pressure to win gold at this competition because I knew I was up against strong opponents. Now that I have won gold, I am happy and appreciative that all the hard work paid off.”

Boccia means “to bowl” in Italian. The aim of the game, played by wheelchair-using athletes with motor-skill impairment, is to bowl balls as close as possible to a white target ball known as the jack.

At the end of each of the four rounds for individual matches, the player whose ball is closest to the jack scores one point. He or she receives an additional point for every ball that sits nearer to the jack than the opponent’s closest ball.

On April 28, Tan opened his campaign with a stunning 11-0 win over Brazil’s seventh-ranked Jose Chagas before recording a 6-5 upset over Hong Kong’s world No. 1 and Paris 2024 Paralympic champion John Loung later in the day.

He followed up with an 11-0 win over Chile’s 82nd-ranked Danilo Diaz and a 5-2 victory over Japan’s world No. 13 Takumi Nakamura over the next two days to top Pool A despite being the second-lowest ranked player in the group.

In the semi-finals, he edged out Mexico’s 11th-ranked Eduardo Reyes 4-3 in another nail-biter on April 30, before overcoming South Korea’s Paris 2024 silver medallist Jung Sung-joon 3-1 in a tight final on May 1.

He said: “My pool does have good and experienced opponents and so I have to play the matches smart and execute what I had been training for in terms of accuracy, shot type and control of the ball speed.

“Most importantly, I had to stay focused and do my best, and enjoy the game rather than thinking that I must win these matches.”

National boccia coach Yurnita Omar said: “Jovin’s strong critical thinking allowed him to apply pressure in almost every end.

“His tactical maturity has also improved significantly, as he demonstrated better decision-making, especially in tight situations where patience and shot selection were critical.

“Lastly, his mental resilience stood out. He remained composed under pressure, which made a big difference in close matches with high-ranking players.”

Tan, who was born with cerebral palsy and has limited mobility below his neck, began his sporting journey at age 15. He became one of the first Singaporeans sailors to compete at the Paralympics and has featured at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016.

While he has an Asian Para Games gold from Incheon 2014, he has yet to win a Paralympic medal, prompting his boccia entry in 2022 following sailing’s exclusion from the Paralympics programme since Tokyo 2020.

In November 2025, he clinched his first international boccia title at the Canberra World Boccia Challenger in Australia and went on to win Asean Para Games gold in Thailand in January.

Being a World Cup champion now further validates his decision to switch sports.

“Winning this title is just scratching the surface of my boccia journey because I still have lots to improve on and learn,” said the executive assistant at HR firm ChapmanCG, who thanked his employer for accommodating his training and competition schedules and the Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) for its support.

“My ultimate goal would be to qualify and represent Singapore at the Paralympics. In order to do so, I need to participate in as many international events as possible to gain points so that my ranking would improve.”

SDSC executive director Kelly Fan said she hopes no one mistakes Tan’s feat as something that comes easily, adding: “From being a newbie to boccia three years ago and not being able to throw farther than half a court, to giving every challenger he encounters today tough decisions to make, Jovin does this with an extraordinary amount of hard work both on and off the field that can only said to be expected of a top athlete.”

“He earned it this time, but we know he’s not going to take it for granted for the next. We are thankful for all the supporters around Jovin and hope more can come forward to recognise and support committed and deserving athletes like Jovin.”

Singapore bagged another medal on May 1, when Jeralyn Tan, who won a historic silver medal at Paris 2024, earned a bronze in the BC1 female category.

After qualifying for the semi-finals as Pool B runner-up, the 37-year-old lost 12-2 to Japan’s top-ranked Hiromi Endo, who avenged her Paris 2024 semi-final loss to Jeralyn.

However, world No. 3 Jeralyn recovered with a brilliant 6-0 win over Israel’s 15th-ranked Orit Kelner in the third-place play-off, while Endo lost 5-2 to Brazil’s world No. 8 Andreza Oliveira in the final.

The Singaporeans will now turn their sights to the June 1-8 Astana 2026 World Boccia Cup.