Jeralyn Tan wins silver in Paralympics boccia event, S’pore’s 1st medal in the sport

Jeralyn Tan wins silver in boccia event on her Paralympics debut

Singaporeans have a new sporting hero after Jeralyn Tan won a silver medal at the Paris Paralympics.

This is Singapore’s first-ever medal in this sport.

Jeralyn Tan wins silver after 5-4 defeat at Paralympics

Tan, 35, was competing in the women’s individual BC1 final on Monday (2 Sept), against Frenchwoman Aurelie Aubert.

While she had previously beaten Aubert 6-1 in the preliminary pool round, she ended up suffering a narrow 5-4 defeat in the final.

This however still ensured Tan a silver medal on her Paralympic debut.

Tan was guaranteed a medal nonetheless after defeating previously unbeaten Japanese World No. 1 Endo Hiromi 5-1 in the semi-final.

Jeralyn Tan is the 4th S’porean to win a medal at the Paralympics

Tan’s silver medal puts her in an exclusive club.

She’s now only the fourth Singaporean to have won a Paralympic medal, after swimmers Yip Pin Xiu and Theresa Goh, and equestrian Laurentia Tan.

She has also won Singapore’s first medal in boccia.

Boccia, which means “to bowl” in Italian, is a game played by athletes with motor-skill impairment on a wheelchair. The objective is to bowl balls towards a white target ball.

Players win points depending on how close they are to the target compared with their opponent.

Tan’s family was cheering her on

There to witness the historic result was Minister for Community, Culture and Sport Edwin Tong, who said Tan’s whole family was cheering her on in Paris.

Interestingly, he said Tan’s cousin-in-law is French, which put him in “a bit of bind” for the final since Tan’s opponent was French.

In the end, family came first as he cheered for Tan.

President & PM laud Jeralyn Tan

Saluting Tan for her achievement, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Facebook that she displayed “great skill and judgement” as well as “an extra-cool mind”.

He said that she first learnt the sport at the age of 16 when a teacher at Cerebral Palsy Alliance Singapore encouraged her to try it, adding:

Her story shows how giving people the opportunities to cross the hurdles they face in life can produce a bit of magic.

The President also thanked her coach Yurnita Omar who has been by her side for eight years.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong congratulated Tan in a Facebook post of his own, saying she had made history.

He also thought it was “especially meaningful” that she’s a resident of his ward, Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.

Also read: Yip Pin Xiu clinches gold in 50m backstroke event, completes 3rd Paralympics double

Yip Pin Xiu clinches gold in 50m backstroke event, completes 3rd Paralympics double

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Featured image adapted from Edwin Tong on Facebook and Team Singapore on Facebook.