Nur Sabrina Suhaimi was once told to sit out physical education class entirely. Today, at 25, she is Singapore’s only female national wheelchair rugby player — a singapore wheelchair rugby national athlete competing in a sport once nicknamed murderball for how physical it is. “It’s like bumper cars — exhilarating. It’s a game where you can really let loose, in a legal way,” she said of the collisions that define the sport.
The Making of a Singapore Wheelchair Rugby National Athlete
Sabrina has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a rare genetic neurological disorder that damages peripheral nerves, causing progressive muscle weakness and loss of sensation that usually begins in the feet and legs before spreading to the hands and arms. Her fingers curl inward and she cannot fully straighten them, making everyday tasks like opening a bottle or buttoning a shirt difficult. She needs a cane and ankle-foot braces to walk short distances.
The diagnosis didn’t come quickly. She began walking noticeably slower than her peers at age five and developed foot drop as her ankle function declined, but doctors couldn’t identify the cause. It wasn’t until she was 16, after the condition had progressed to her hands, that more specific testing finally confirmed Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. “There’s currently no cure for this. But as my muscles progressively get weaker, staying active can help me maintain my strength and mobility,” she said.
A Fall That Changed Everything
In May 2024, Sabrina suffered a bad fall stepping out of her house to reach her mobility scooter, fracturing her ankle and leaving her wheelchair-bound for a year. “That was the lowest point of my life. I couldn’t do a lot of things. I couldn’t even go to the toilet on my own,” she said. The injury came just months after she had been retrenched from her job as a graphic designer, compounding a difficult stretch. “I felt like I was just a burden to my mum,” she said.
To rebuild strength, Sabrina joined an inclusive swimming class — and one of her coaches, a former wheelchair rugby coach, introduced her to the sport. What started as a way to simply get out of the house turned into a new career path in itself: two months after starting wheelchair rugby, she landed a new graphic design job.
From the Sidelines to the National Team
Sabrina now trains three times a week and quickly earned a spot on Singapore’s national wheelchair rugby team, one of 10 players who represented the country at the 13th ASEAN Para Games in Thailand in January 2026, where the team won silver. She plays offence and is classified as a high pointer within the sport’s functional classification system, meaning she carries more of the ball-handling and scoring responsibility.
Wheelchair Rugby Association Singapore has around 27 members, including athletes with spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophy, and other neurological conditions. In June, Sabrina took part in the World Wheelchair Rugby Super Week, training alongside athletes from Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand under international coaches. “Competing alongside elite athletes who have played for years yet remain hungry to improve reminded me to keep growing and to be better than the person I was yesterday,” she said.
Proud to Use a Wheelchair
As Singapore’s only female singapore wheelchair rugby national athlete, Sabrina said her male teammates were initially gentler with her on court — until they saw how she played. “Recently, we had a tournament, and I kept banging into my opponent. He told me that I own this court,” she laughed. The team is now working toward the 2027 WWR Asia-Oceania Championship and hopes to compete on home soil at the 2029 ASEAN Para Games in Singapore.
Her relationship with the wheelchair itself has changed too. “I used to be shy to tell people I’m in a wheelchair. But now, it is something I am proud to say. I have a wheelchair, and I’m a rugby player,” she said. Asked where she sees herself in a decade, she doesn’t hesitate: “I still see myself as someone trying her best.”
Full profile via CNA Women.
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