Taekwondo pair give Singapore its first gold of 2025 SEA Games

BANGKOK: Diyanah Aqidah Muhammad Dian Khudhairi and Nicholas Khaw won Singapore’s first gold at the 2025 Bangkok SEA Games on Wednesday (Dec 10).

The pair defeated their Vietnamese opponents in the final of the mixed poomsae pair event, after earlier overcoming challenges from Laos and the Philippines.

This is Singapore’s fifth medal of the Games.

Speaking to reporters after their victory, Khaw said: "We feel really happy and really proud that we've got this gold medal, and we're looking back on our previous trainings and these whole years of hard work, I think that we really did do well in this competition, and we did deserve this."

About their pairing, Khaw noted that they each have different strengths and weaknesses, and they "tend to cover each other in certain ways". His style is "louder and looks more explosive", while Diyanah's is "cleaner and more rhythmic".

She added: "Today's performance was really the best I could give and I trained really hard to get here, and I feel I put it all out on the mat."

Speaking to CNA, team manager Wong Zhen Kang credited the win to the "ecosystem" surrounding the athletes, including the physios and coaches, as well as their parents, friends and supporters at home.

They have helped create a great atmosphere for them, he said.

"Singapore's taekwondo athletes are in very high spirits, and they have been preparing very well and hard for these Games. I have my hope there'll be more medals to come," said Mr Wong, who is also secretary general of the Singapore Taekwondo Federation.

Earlier in the day, Nicole Alethea Khaw took Singapore’s first silver after she finished second in the freestyle poomsae individual final with a score of 7.180.

Her compatriot Darren Yap clinched joint-bronze with a score of 7.660 in the men’s event.

The badminton men’s and women’s teams also clinched bronzes after losses to Indonesia and Thailand respectively.