SEA Games 2025: Singapore’s Peter Gilchrist reclaims English billiards men’s singles title

BANGKOK – After two back-to-back defeats at the SEA Games, Singapore’s Peter Gilchrist battled his way back to the top of the English billiards men’s singles podium after beating Myanmar’s Pauk Sa 3-0 (101-48, 102-59, 100-40) in a nervy final on Dec 12.

While he was in his eighth straight final in this event at his 10th SEA Games, Gilchrist, 57, had lost gold to 66-year-old Pauk Sa in 2022 and 2023, and was keen to avoid a hat-trick of defeats.

The Burmese veteran had already accounted for another Singaporean Karthik Ramaswamy with a 3-2 win in the quarter-final, before requiring another decider to overcome Thailand’s Yuttapop Pakpoj in the semi-final.

Gilchrist, on the other hand, swept Indonesia’s Marlando Sihombing 3-0 in the last eight, and then beat Thailand’s Praprut Chaithanaskun 3-2 in the final four at Bangkok’s Thunder Dome.

Since 2011, Gilchrist has won six straight English billiards men’s singles titles – including the 100 and 500 points golds in 2015. With his latest triumph, the veteran player now has nine golds, three silvers and four bronze medals from the biennial event.

Played on a snooker table, English billiards features three balls – white and yellow, one of which serves as a cue ball for one player and an object ball for the opponent and vice versa, and the red ball that is a common object ball.

Points can be scored through cannons and potting balls and, in the current SEA Games format, the first player to reach 100 points wins the frame, and the first to secure three frames wins the match.

Earlier in the day, Charlene Chai and Audrey Chua secured a joint-bronze with Malaysia after losing 3-0 (45-24, 69-16, 35-31) to Indonesia’s Emilia Rahmanda and Anabella Yohana in the women’s snooker 6-red team semi-finals. The Indonesians will meet Thailand in the final on Dec 13.