Singapore’s Nurulasyiqah Mohd Taha wins bronze at World Boccia Cup
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Nurulasyiqah Mohd Taha (bottom) and her ramp operator and athlete competition partner Nur Azizah at the World Boccia Cup in Beijing.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE DISABILITY SPORTS COUNCIL
SINGAPORE – In her 21-year sporting career, Nurulasyiqah Mohd Taha has competed in two Paralympic Games and won medals at the Asian Para Games and Asia and South Pacific Boccia Championships, but individual honours at the World Cup proved elusive.
That finally changed on June 12, when the 39-year-old, who has spinal muscular atrophy, clinched the bronze medal in the BC3 individual event at the Beijing World Boccia Cup.
Nurulasyiqah, who beat four higher-ranked opponents en route to her medal, said in a statement: “I’m incredibly grateful to my ramp operator and athlete competition partner, Nur Azizah, who has been training with me patiently since 2017. This bronze medal is as much hers as it is mine.
“I haven’t had much time to fully process the win, as we had to gear up for our first BC3 pairs match just a few hours after the individual bronze-medal match.
“Once we return from this tournament, our focus will be on sustaining the skills and momentum we’ve built.”
Ranked 24th in the world, Nurulasyiqah kicked off her campaign in China with a narrow 4-4 tiebreak loss to world No. 4 Sonia Heckel, before bouncing back with a 6-1 win over Evani Calado (No. 5) of Brazil to secure a knockout berth.
In the play-offs, she beat Australia’s world No. 6 and the Paris Paralympics silver medallist Jamieson Leeson 5-3 to advance to the last four.
Despite losing 5-1 to South Korea’s Paralympic bronze medallist Kang Sun-hee (No. 3) in the semi-finals, she fought back to earn a spot on the podium. Up against Paris gold medallist Ho Yuen Kei of Hong Kong in the third-place play-off, the Singaporean upset her top-ranked rival 5-2 to claim a hard-earned bronze.
Kang went on to beat Japan’s Ayane Ichinoe 4-2 in the final.
The bronze medal in Beijing marks Nurulasyiqah’s comeback to international competitions after a three-year absence due to Covid-19 restrictions.
In 2024, she won gold at the Pajulahti World Boccia Challenger in Finland, before clinching the World Cup pairs bronze at the New Taipei City World Boccia Cup with Aloysius Gan – a first for Singapore at the event.
(From left) Japan’s Ayane Ichinoe, South Korea’s Kang Sun-hee and Singapore’s Nurulasyiqah Mohd Taha on the podium.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE DISABILITY SPORTS COUNCIL
Gan, 18, missed out on a podium finish in the BC3 male individual event after losing 5-2 to Frenchman Jules Menard in the third-place play-off.
The duo went on to clinch a silver in the BC3 pairs on June 14 after defeating Brazil’s Mateus Carvalho and Evani Calado 3-1 before losing 3-1 to Japan’s Masayuki Arita and Ayane Ichinoe in the final.
(From left) Eve Cher, Aloysius Gan’s athlete competition partner; Aloysius Gan; Rumningsih Rawin Radi, Nurulasyiqah’s caregiver; Nurulasyiqah Mohd Taha; and Gan Keng Aik, Aloysius Gan’s coach at the World Boccia Cup in Beijing.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE DISABILITY SPORTS COUNCIL
