Grandfather, 75, clinches woodball bronze on his SEA Games debut for Singapore

BANGKOK: Woodball player Tan Kok Tiong on Friday (Dec 12) became one of Singapore's oldest SEA Games medallists at 75 years old.

The father of two and grandfather of four was making his SEA Games debut. 

Tan, along with Chan Hock Hooi, Cheng Hua Ju, Len Meng Jin, Neo Hock Leng and Ng Yeow Gim took joint-bronze in the men's team fairway event after a 0-3 loss to Malaysia. 

Four countries are competing in woodball at the Games – Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. This marks the first time it has featured at the biannual event. Singapore finished fourth.

Invented in Taiwan in 1990, woodball is a mainly outdoor sport where players use a wooden mallet to hit a ball through a series of small "gates". 

The sport has a thriving community of players in Singapore who are mostly seniors, with clubs across the country.

All six players on the men's team are in their 60s and 70s.

On the women's team, five of the six players are aged above 60. The sixth is 17-year-old Gwenifer Mak, an ITE College Central student. The team also took joint-bronze after a 0-3 loss to Thailand.

Tan is the oldest athlete in the Singapore contingent. However, he is not the oldest Singaporean to have clinched a SEA Games medal.

At the 2011 Games, bridge player Ng Lai Chun, then 76, won two silver medals.

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