SEA Games 2025: Singapore men’s water polo team win gold No. 29 in 30 editions

BANGKOK – Singapore clinched a 29th SEA Games men’s water polo gold in 30 editions after beating arch rivals Indonesia 19-16 in their final round-robin match at the Thammasat University Aquatic Centre on Dec 19.

In a tight first period, the defending champions trailed 0-1, 1-2 and 5-6, but ended the quarter with an 8-6 lead thanks to some hot shooting as six players got on the scoreboard.

However, 2019 champions Indonesia bounced back in the second period from an 8-11 deficit to level the scores at 11-11 going into the half-time break.

With a combination of nerves and good goalkeeping from both teams, the third quarter was a low scoring affair with Singapore taking a slender lead into the final period before seeing out the match.

The Republic had earlier beaten Malaysia 23-8, edged hosts Thailand 14-13, before thumping the Philippines (33-6) to set up the deciding round-robin match against Indonesia, the only other team to have won gold in this event.

In a bid to build for the future, Singapore coach Kan Aoyagi made sweeping changes to the squad, which comprise 11 SEA Games debutants and have an average age of 21. Only Cayden Loh and Darren Lee are returning from the 2023 gold-winning squad.

The latest victory caps a fine year in which they also secured a historic match win in their debut at the World Aquatics Championships to finish 15th out of 16 teams. At the 2026 Asian Games, they will aim to finish higher than the fifth place they achieved in Hangzhou in 2023.

Meanwhile, Singapore’s women’s team settled for silver after an 11-8 loss to Thailand in the final. They beat the Philippines (35-6), Malaysia (25-4) and Indonesia (20-5) in the round robin before facing the hosts Thailand in the decider to fight for the gold they last won in 2011, when the event made its Games debut. Since then, Thailand have won it five times in a row.