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This is from memory alone from almost 30 years ago so take it with a large grain of old salt.
The Mercedes Diesel engines of the early 1980s passenger cars had grooves radiating from the prechamber. The idea of grooves radiating from the point of combustion, assuming my memory is correct, is at least 30 years old and possibly much older. I am not sure when Benz started grooving the area around their diesel prechambers, but apparently they were a useful part of creating turbulence in the combustion chamber. They probably also helped to reduce the Diesel knock typical of most diesel engines.
Personally I don't doubt Sing accomplished an improvement with his grooves. Turbulence in the combustion chamber helps to create a more homogenous mixture which according to research in Homogenous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) has the potential to improve mileage and efficiency by 25%, while reducing emissions to the point of elimination of any aftertreatment of exhaust gas. HCCI means the instant of ignition occurs throughout the combustion chamber versus ignition starting in a single spot and propagating through the combustion chamber.
My belief is that Sing "discovered" the effect long after it had already been utilized by manufacturers like Mercedes Benz and possibly others long before the example I saw personally when I worked at a dealership in Houston Texas in 1982. Naturally with crude engines of the type with archaic fuel delivery systems that Sing was working with the grooves would make a greater difference in turbulence, compared to more modern designs that incorporate turbulence as a basic part of their design, with modern fuel injection and feedback mixture control, the value of Sing's modification is greatly reduced and possibly eliminated altogether.
regards
Mech
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