Photo of Nurulasyiqah Mohd Taha and her athlete competition partner, Nur Azizah. Credit: Singapore Disability Sports Council
Team Singapore boccia athlete Nurulasyiqah Mohd Taha secured a bronze medal in the BC3 Female Individual event at the Beijing 2025 World Boccia Cup yesterday, marking her first individual World Cup medal in her 21-year sporting career.
Competing against a world-class field, the current World No. 24 Nurulasyiqah began her campaign on 7 June with a narrow 4-4 tie-break loss to World No. 4 Sonia Heckel. She bounced back with a commanding 6-1 victory over World No. 5 Evani Calado, before advancing to the knockout stage.
In the quarter-finals, she defeated Australia’s Paris 2024 Paralympics silver medallist Jamieson Leeson 5-3 to secure a place in the semi-finals, where she faced South Korea’s Paris 2024 bronze medallist Sunhee Kang. Despite a 5-1 loss, Nurulasyiqah returned with resilience to face World No. 1 and reigning Paris 2024 gold medallist, Hong Kong’s Yuen Kei Ho, in the bronze medal match where she delivered a commanding 5-2 win to earn her spot on the podium.
“I’m incredibly grateful to my ramp operator and athlete competition partner, Nur Azizah, who has been training with me patiently since 2017. This bronze medal is as much hers as it is mine,” said Nurulasyiqah. “I haven’t had much time to fully process the win, as we had to gear up for our first BC3 Pairs match just a few hours after the individual bronze medal match. Once we return from this tournament, our focus will be on sustaining the skills and momentum we’ve built.”
The bronze medal builds on Nurulasyiqah’s strong comeback to the international scene, which began in late 2023 after nearly three years away due to COVID-19 restrictions. Last year, she returned to form by capturing gold at the 2024 Pajulahti World Boccia Challenger in Finland, her first top finish since winning gold at the 2014 Montreal Boccia World Open. Later in the year, Nurulasyiqah made history alongside teammate Aloysius Gan by securing Singapore’s first-ever World Cup Pairs medal at the New Taipei City 2024 World Boccia Cup. These podium finishes underscore a remarkable resurgence in her boccia career.
Aloysius Gan also impressed at the Beijing 2025 event, finishing 4th in the BC3 Male Individual category. He narrowly missed a podium finish after a tough 5-2 loss against France’s Paris 2024 quarterfinalist Jules Menard in the bronze medal match.
The two athletes are now focused on their Pairs BC3 campaign at the ongoing Beijing World Cup, taking place from 7 to 15 June, where they hope to build on last year’s success.
