Joy, and tears as Singapore men’s softball team stun two-time world champions Australia at World Games

SINGAPORE – Marcus Chew and Dominic Han, co-captains of the Singapore men’s softball team, remember their 2019 clash against Australia at the Softball World Championship in Prague vividly.

Then, they were humbled 10-0, with their loss sealed by a walk-off three-run hit from their opponents.

Six years later on Aug 6, the Singaporean team shed tears as they faced Australia again, though this time it was tears of joy after notching a 10-9 win against the two-time world champions at the World Games in Chengdu, China.

The victory marked a milestone for the 11th-ranked team, as it was their first over world No. 4 Australia, who were last crowned world champions in 2022.

“Several years ago, if someone said we would be beating Australia, it would not have been something believable,” said Han, 32.

“We got off to a very huge lead at the start, and then we just hung on for dear life. It was a really exhilarating win for us.

“Australia is definitely a superpower in the sport, and I would say we snatched the victory from them. Some of our teammates did shed a tear and for the older ones like myself... it’s unbelievable.”

At the Xindu Better City Softball Arena, Singapore scored through Mohamad Huzaifie (three runs), Foo Say Kian (two) and singles from Low Zu Ray, Schuyler Seah, Joshua Tan, Malcolm Lim and Han to stun Australia.

Singapore were beaten 15-2 by the United States on Aug 7 and will face Canada – who notched a 11-2 win over Australia – a day later.

Group A comprises world No. 1 Japan, Venezuela, Argentina and the Czech Republic. The top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals.

Chew, 29, said while they faced tough opponents like Canada and US next, the victory over Australia will have a strong impact on the sport in Singapore.

He added: “It will motivate the younger players. We can see that we have advanced and it can give us some bit of confidence that we can go head to head with the giants. It may inspire the young ones to take up softball in Singapore.”

Chew noted that increased overseas exposure for some players in the squad, more sparring matches and training camps overseas, as well as team spirit were some factors that contributed to their improvement.

The 12th edition of the World Games officially kicked off on Aug 7 and runs till Aug 17. Among the 34 sports contested, Singapore is also represented in powerlifting, floorball, muay thai, duathlon, billiards, wushu and wakeboarding.

This is only the second time since 1981 that men’s softball is featured in the multi-sport event dedicated mostly to non-Olympic sports. Singapore are the only team ranked outside the top 10 and entered the competition via a wild card.

National coach Koh Ruoh Jie, 43, said that the World Games will help the team prepare for the Dec 9-20 SEA Games in Thailand, where they are aiming to retain their gold medal from the 2019 edition – softball was not on the roster in 2021 and 2023.

Koh said: “Other than the SEA Games gold medal win in 2019, this will be the one of the proudest moments for me and the team. I think we have come a long way to reach this stage. We hope to inspire the players in Singapore to really train and know that beating the big teams is possible.”