S’pore teen Joshua Cheng wins U-14 water polo title in Australia and eyes future national team spot

Joshua Cheng (second from left) with (from left) his coach Eric Brown, father Cheng Ching-Siang and coach Zac Spitznagel. PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHENG CHING-SIANG

SINGAPORE – Even as Singapore water polo continues to make waves in home waters, an Australian-born Singaporean player is charting his own journey Down Under.

On April 18, 14-year-old Joshua Cheng not only helped Sydney University Lions Blue retain their Australian Youth Water Polo Championships Under-14 boys’ title with an 8-7 win over the Mantas, but he was also named the Most Valuable Player of the division.

Three days later, during a short break in Singapore, he represented Raffles Institution (RI) in the National School Games in which he finished seventh in the C Division boys’ 50m butterfly heats in 29.97sec.

He did not compete in the final as he had to return to Sydney on April 23 for his Year 9 (equivalent to Secondary 2) classes.

He told The Straits Times: “I will continue to balance my water polo and swimming training in Australia and I hope to make it to the Singapore national junior team for at least one of the two sports.”

Joshua is on a path less travelled as he pursues his sporting dreams. Born in Townsville, a city in Queensland state, the sports lover picked up water polo and underwater hockey in 2021 to supplement his swimming training. He also represented his school and district in cross-country running.

Having a sporty parent helps, as his father, Singaporean surgeon Cheng Ching-Siang, plays water polo and had also won several local and regional triathlon races in the early 2000s.

Cheng, a single parent, said: “When I moved to Cairns, I started training seriously in triathlon again, qualifying for the 2022 Age-Group Ironman 70.3 World Championship. Concurrently, I started playing water polo again to encourage Joshua to play.

“One has to swim fast to play, hence my swimming background helped. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, I had lots of free time and Joshua and I spent hours passing the water polo ball at the backyard pool. I was also playing with the local Masters team and there were no kids’ team, so Joshua trained with us.”

The teenager began to develop a feel for the ball and the water, as well as positional versatility as a winger, driver or centre-back, after training with the Sydney University water polo team, whose coaches include Serbia’s former world champion Petar Trbojevic.

Joshua tried to use his progress in water polo to help gain admission to RI via the direct schools admission scheme, as his father was also a Rafflesian. However, his application was rejected as the selection panel was concerned he may not be able to keep up academically at RI, having been schooled entirely in Australia earlier.

He ended up entering RI under the modified PSLE for overseas students and returning Singaporeans, completed Secondary 1 with a B+ average in 2024, and took a leave of absence from April 2025 to train and develop his water polo in Sydney.

Unfazed by his unconventional path, Joshua said: “I love the vigour and complexity of the sport, and also how my teammates help me to grow as a player and as a person.

“It feels good to have my father to look up to and help me progress my water polo skills. If I had not picked up water polo in Cairns, I most likely wouldn’t have started water polo.”

Dominic Soh, Singapore Aquatics vice-president for water polo, told ST that the association is aware of Joshua’s exploits and noted that he is an up-and-coming player with lots of potential.

He added: “While he has shown promise and has won MVP awards on numerous occasions, Joshua is still young and has not reached the age for national youth development squad selection yet.

“But, with the potential displayed thus far, I would expect him to make the NYDS next year.”

Water polo has seen a resurgence since the men’s team lost their SEA Games dominance in 2019.

They reclaimed the regional crown in 2023, while the women’s team played in the world championships for the first time in 2024. The men also recorded their first win over powerhouses Kazakhstan en route to finishing fourth at the Asian U-20 championships in April.

Though Cheng hopes his son will be able to represent Singapore, he said: “Returning in 2026 will depend on his development opportunities in Singapore.

“While academic development at Raffles Institution is world-class... Australia has a strong development programme in water polo plus Olympic-medallist coaches. Lindsay Cotterill and Eric Brown, with a depth of junior coaching experience, have been lighting Joshua’s path on a near-daily basis.

“Like Joseph Schooling had to develop his swimming in the USA, Joshua may have to do the same in Australia.”

Cheng, however, will be back in Singapore for the July 26-Aug 22 World Aquatics Masters Championships to represent the hosts in the water polo competition.

The winger, who was part of the New South Wales state masters champions team in 2022, said: “I’ll be joining many friends from the Chinese Swimming Club masters to play for Singapore. I have known some of them from our secondary school days and it will be like a great reunion.”

David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.

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