Singapore’s Toh Sze Ning clinches gold at Zagreb 2022 World Boccia Challenger
She previously represented Singapore at the 2016 Paralympics.
Singapore Boccia athlete Toh Sze Ning won a gold in the BC3 Female Individual event at the Zagreb 2022 World Boccia Intercontinental Challenger on Thursday (Apr 7).
Sze Ning, ranked 15th in the world, defeated Germany’s Christine Fink 7-0 in the final.
Prior to that, she overcame Czech’s Marcela Cermakova 7-3 in the semi-final.
Of the five matches she played in the tournament, Sze Ning only lost once, to Sweden’s Maria Bjurstrom, in the pool stages.
“Years of hard work at training have finally paid off! Being able to stay composed and execute our gameplay with minimal mistakes was crucial to the victory today,” said Sze Ning, according to a Facebook post from the Singapore Disability Sports Council highlighting her achievement.
“I would also like to thank… everyone that has supported me. There’s still a long way to go for me and I’ll work harder to achieve more.”
Her teammate, Aloysius Gan finished fourth in the BC3 Male Individual event, losing to Arno Van Praet 0-4 from Belgium.
Sze Ning and Aloysius will next compete in the pairs event against Germany and Slovakia on Friday.
Sze Ning has cerebral palsy which severely limits movement across her entire body. She can barely direct the joystick on her motorised wheelchair and rarely sits upright on a chair as lying flat puts less pressure on her spine.
She picked up the sport in 2007 and, despite her condition, won two silver medals in the ASEAN Para Games 2015. She also competed in the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
