The Singapore men’s T20 cricket team has won bronze, while the Singapore women’s T10 team went winless at the Southeast Asian Games 2025 in Thailand.
With the teams comprising primarily youngsters - indeed, the youngest player being 13-year-old Pushpa Murali from the women’s team - it is a performance that Singapore can take heart from, even if there may have been expectations of gold before the tournament.
Women’s team manager Syakilla Salni said: “We have built a team for the future, targeting the SEA Games 2029. Besides three seniors, all were first timers who played well against higher-ranked teams.”
Men’s team manager Chetan Suryawanshi and captain Rezza Gaznavi applauded the character that the men’s team showed in the face of injuries.
In the first match against Philippines, Rezza suffered two fractures and a nail injury in his left finger. He was rushed to the hospital. But, upon seeing the scorecard, he took a cab back to the ground and padded up.
Finger taped, he scored 44 runs off 41 balls (his career best in T20Is) and remained unbeaten, yet Singapore lost by 14 runs.
With Rezza out of action in subsequent matches, former U-16, U-19 captain Aman Desai, 23, found himself captaining the men’s side for the first time. He led the team to two nailbiting victories and one loss.
Against Indonesia, Singapore chased down 151, thanks to Raoul Sharma’s 38 not out off 20 and middling scores by the top few batsmen. Neil Karnik and Aslan Jafri took three wickets each.
Against Thailand, Singapore won by 4 runs. In the final over, Thai batsman Suttisan was on 73 off 49 and had just hit him for a six. Neil held onto his nerve to get him out next ball. A double-wicket maiden by Kannusami Sathish was also a highlight, with his cutters troubling batsmen on a slower wicket.
Rezza credits head coach Amjad Mahboob for the youngsters’ performance: “Amjad is a very shrewd cricketer and has been working closely with these boys. One can see how much the fast bowling department and batting have improved.”
Coach Amjad said: “In any match, one team has to lose. We learn from the mistakes and don’t repeat them. It is a young team - players like Vedant and Aslan are only 17-18 years old.”
Reflecting on the overall performance, Chetan said: “More competitive cricket across different countries will help players. We can perhaps have a team for full-time National Servicemen who can compete for the SCA League so that they stay in touch with Cricket. More sponsors are needed.”
In the leadup to the SEA Games, Singapore Cricket Association had even arranged a team from Pakistan to come down for a practice match, he said. Chetan added: “Rain hampered our plans for more than 14-15 days.”
The men’s T10 tournament kicks off on Dec 15, with Singapore against Indonesia at 1pm local time (2pm SGT), while the women’s T20 tournament kicks off on Dec 16, Singapore facing Thailand, at 2.30pm local time (3.30pm SGT).
Sai Harsha Venugopal, who shone with a 37 off 23 against Thailand and 28 off 20 against Philippines, captains the T10 side.
Women’s team captain Shafina Mahesh said: “It is never an easy road but we have the support around us. We will do our utmost to make our nation proud.”
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6 Nov 2025 11:55
