S'pore stun ex-champs Australia for SEA Games boost

Marcus Chew and Dominic Han, co-captains of the Singapore men's softball team, remember their 2019 clash against Australia at the Softball World Championship in Prague vividly.

- Deepanraj Ganesan

Then, they were humbled 10-0, with their loss sealed by a walk-off three-run hit from their opponents.

Six years later on Aug 6, the Singaporean team shed tears as they faced Australia again, though this time it was tears of joy after notching a 10-9 win against the two-time world champions at the World Games in Chengdu, China.

The victory marked a milestone for the 11th-ranked team, as it was their first over world No. 4 Australia, who were last crowned world champions in 2022.

"Several years ago, if someone said we would be beating Australia, it would not have been something believable," said Han, 32.

"We got off to a very huge lead at the start, and then we just hung on for dear life. It was a really exhilarating win for us.