The Southeast Asian (SEA) Games have long served as a launchpad for young athletes to announce themselves to the sporting world, offering a rare international stage where emerging talents can test themselves against seasoned rivals – and sometimes beat them.
Over the years, the regional meet has witnessed numerous breakout stars making their first breakthrough, from Izaac Quek, who was just 17 when he stunned the field to claim the men’s singles table tennis gold at the 2023 SEA Games, to Quah Ting Wen, who announced her arrival even earlier by winning two gold medals at the 2007 Thailand SEA Games – the women’s 400m individual medley and 4×100m medley relay – at just 15 years old.
The 33rd SEA Games was no different, with several young guns stepping into the spotlight and making a strong impression in Thailand.
Julia Yeo, 14 (Swimming)
Singapore swimmer Julia Yeo delivered an impressive series of performances across the women’s backstroke events in Bangkok, with a relay gold, a new national record and personal bests in all three of her individual events.
Yeo began her campaign in the women’s 50m backstroke heats on Dec 11, clocking 30.26 seconds to finish 10th overall. While she narrowly missed out on a place in the finals, the swim marked a new personal best, setting the tone for what was to come.
She won her 200m backstroke heat in 2:19.19 and produced a superb swim of 2:16.51 in the final, finishing fourth and smashing both her personal best and surpassing Tao Li’s 2009 national record of 2:17.12.
Yeo continued her consistent form in the women’s 100m backstroke, advancing from the heats with a personal-best 1:04.93 before lowering it again to 1:04.75 in the final, where she placed seventh.
The up-and-coming backstroke specialist had her major breakthrough in the women’s 4x100m medley relay, where she filled in for Levenia Sim, who had suffered a shoulder injury during the warmup.
The teenager handled the eleventh-hour substitution superbly as she joined Letitia Sim, Quah Jing Wen and Quah Ting Wen at the top of the podium for her first medal of the Games. The quartet also rewrote the Games record with a mark of 4:05.79.
Chan Junhao, 21 (Swimming)
Debutant Chan Junhao also enjoyed a breakthrough in the Bangkok pool, announcing himself as the nation’s next leading breaststroker as he looks to take on the mantle previously held by Nicholas Mahabir — who has had to put his career on pause after contracting the incurable Epstein–Barr virus — and Maximilian Ang, after finishing the meet with a haul of medals and a new national record.
He topped the heats in the men’s 100m breaststroke (1:02.21) before lowering his time to 1:01.72 in the final to clinch the silver medal. Chan added to his medal tally in the men’s 200m breaststroke, where he touched home in 2:14.82 to secure another silver.
He was also part of Singapore’s gold-winning quartet in the men’s 4x100m medley relay, teaming up with Jonathan Tan, Mikkel Lee, and Quah Zheng Wen to storm to victory in 3:38.47.
The highlight of Chan’s campaign came in the men’s 50m breaststroke, where the national record-holder powered to gold in 27.68 seconds from lane two, rewriting his own national mark to claim his first individual gold medal.
Ethan Chia, 15 (Sailing)
Over at the Samudara Klia Yachting Centre in Chonburi, 15-year-old Ethan Chia made a strong impression by clinching gold in the boys’ Optimist event, his first individual SEA Games medal, after having won mixed Optimist silver with Cheryl Yong at the previous edition.
Chia led the seven-boat fleet from the opening day, retaining top spot across all four days of preliminary races. A blistering start that saw him claim four first-place finishes in the first five races gave the teenager strong momentum to build on as he tightened his grip on the title.
He eventually topped the standings with 15 points from 10 races between Dec 10 and 14, comfortably holding off Thailand’s Adison Ein (26 points).
Anya Zahedi, 12 (Sailing)
Singapore’s Anya Zahedi impressed at the Samudara Klia Yachting Centre, delivering a consistent performance to claim silver in the girls’ Optimist event.
The second-youngest competitor for Singapore at the Games, just behind 11-year-old skateboarder Felix Balzer, Anya was in contention for a medal from the start. She notched three race wins in the first four races and maintained her position throughout all four days of competition in the six-boat fleet.
Having won the Optimist girls’ division at the Mussanah Race Week and been crowned the top female sailor at the 2025 Optimist Asian & Oceanian Championships just two months ago, Anya capped off yet another successful campaign with SEA Games silver.
Jedd Tan, 18 (Ju-jitsu)
At the Navaminda Kasatriyahiraj Air Force Academy on Dec 10, debutant Jedd Tan emerged victorious in the men’s fighting system under-77kg final, defeating Thailand’s 2022 Asian Champion Chanwit Aunjai 16-9 to claim gold.
Earlier in the day, he had defeated Vietnam’s Van Suu by full Ippon in the preliminaries, Thailand’s Polput Kampanart 10-4 in the quarter-finals, and Indonesia’s Perfecto Artz 11-6 in the semi-finals.
The youngest member of the Singapore ju-jitsu squad, Tan had already made his mark regionally, having won gold at the 2024 Southeast Asia Regional Ju-jitsu Championship in the under-21 ne-waza 85kg category, and finished fifth at the Asian Championship in the fighting system 77kg division. His SEA Games triumph on his debut adds yet another impressive achievement to his rapidly rising career.
Tan was also a part of the mixed team event, where the team fought hard but fell to Thailand 34-11 in the semifinals, earning a joint bronze medal.
Marissa Hafezan, 19 (Karate)
Karateka Marissa Hafezan shone on her debut, capturing gold in the women’s kumite under-55kg and ending a 32-year wait for a Singaporean karate gold.
Competing at the Chaeng Watthana Government Complex, Marissa dominated the preliminaries with commanding victories, defeating the Philippines’ Montalvo Maryanne Jenelle 7-0 and Laos’ Sysoubanthong Manyvanh 8-0 to secure her place in the final. In a tense showdown against Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Dieu Ly, Marissa held her nerve to claim a 5-3 win, landing a decisive kick to the head and scoring the final points to clinch the historic medal.
Her path to glory was especially remarkable given her shoulder dislocation in April, which required surgery in June. Marissa now has her sights set on the 2026 Asian Games and future Asian and world championships.
