Photos and words by Mathew Gan (14A01C)

“Allez.”

The impassioned cheers from the crowd are abruptly silenced as the fencers raised their sabres. A pause. Everyone is frozen in their places, eyes focused on the two glinting weapons. They clash.

Roars of victory erupt from the Rafflesian spectators present as sabreur and girls’ captain Christabel Yong punches the air in triumph. The Raffles Fencing team has just swept away their third individual Gold, sweeping, in the girls’ division, the Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals, as well as the girls’ A-division team first in the National Inter-school Championships.

It was not that this year’s competition made it easy for our girls. Every school present put up a good fight, especially Hwa Chong Institution, who were stout opposition for our fencers. In the finals, for Foil, Sabre, and Épée, the girls faced a Hwa Chong counterpart in each, but they were able to push through all the way, coming out top in all three matches.

The last match of the Inter-schools was especially rousing. The scores are neck to neck, the penultimate score by Hwa Chong resulting in a heart-stopping equalizer at 14-14. This last hit in the nationals would decide who won the last Gold of the year. The two competitors take in deep breaths to calm themselves before the conclusive crossing of blades of an intense match, which finally ends with Christabel winning through a decisive strike on her opponent’s sword arm. The match has been secured. She salutes her opponent, the referee, and the audience by raising her blade’s hilt to her chin, then punches the air in firmly, spirit unyielding. The team cheers all the while from the sidelines.

Said Christabel after the competition, “Since the start of the competition, I had been quite nervous and had felt that I was under-performing, even up until the finals. What really helped me was fellow fencer Melvin and our coach, Mr Oleg, pointing out my mistakes and telling me how to correct them, what I should do when facing a certain opponent, and so on. Also, the huge amount support that the fencing team gave me really inspired me. To see them cheer so enthusiastically pushed me to do my best, and to exceed that best.”

“I also think that this Inter-schools made me feel really inspired by my teammates. During the competition, I could really see each and every one of them fight hard for every point. Even if they were down, they didn’t give up. They all trained really hard for this competition also so I’m really happy to see them fence with all their strength.”

The sense of camaraderie within the fencing team extends to the J1s as well. Clara Chong, who attained a Bronze in the Foil weapon category, said that she was honoured and proud to be part of the team. “It’s the fighting spirit within the team that’s important.”

Thalia Lee and Fan Jin both won Gold for their weapon categories, Foil and Epée respectively, while Clara Chong and Denise Fu brought home the two Foil Bronzes, and Tan Tze En an Epée Bronze. For Fan Jin, the last two bouts were difficult, reason being partly because both were friends that she trained regularly with.

“During the finals against my friend from another school, having the whole school team and our coach supporting me really pushed me to keep on fighting because it wasn’t just about me and my friend fencing, it was about doing my best for RJ fencing. I think that’s what was essential to everybody’s performance during Inter-schools, as in we were really one team, always encouraging and motivating each other, putting in our all into the competition to do our school proud.”

Thalia had an easier time, winning all the matches by a clear margins up to her finals, which she won 15-7.

The boys’ team sadly did not do so well in comparison, but were still able to bag a Bronze in the Sabre weapon category.

Said Xie Debin, boys’captain, “It was really tough for us this year as our team was not the most experienced in the competition. But we worked hard throughout the one and a half years we had and do not regret the outcome.”

He praised Tze Yang for exceeding expectations though.

“Although he was lagging behind in the match, he shouted to motivate himself after scoring a point. I am sure the audience all felt it as it was intense. Tze Yang lost to the first seed in the semi-finals, but he still put up a strong fight nonetheless.”

Tze Yang himself is ever so humble, saying that he “can still improve his score.”

What your reporter gathered was that there is general consensus that the competition was really exciting this year. Both Mr Teo, teacher-in-charge of fencing, as well as national team fencer Jerrold agreed that this year’s matches have been genuinely interesting.

All in all, this year’s competition from Raffles can be summed up with a line from girls’ captain Christabel: “No reserve, no  retreat, no regret.” And that was just what they did.

For detailed scorings, please visit http://sssc.schoolsports.sg/fencing/download for the Results .zip file.

By Huang Sihan (14S06D) and Jonathan Tan (13A01C)

Photos by Georges Ip and Nicholas Koh (Photographic Society)

“On your marks…” A sudden silence falls over the Choa Chu Kang stadium as the runners crouch in the starting blocks, the yellow flags of the officials shoot up in unison, and the spectators fixate their gaze in eager anticipation. The only audible noises are the vehicles travelling on the nearby highway.

“BANG!”

The gunshot pierces the tense atmosphere, quickly followed by lung-bursting shouting and fervent clapping that pervades the stands. The hordes of supporters decked out in the myriad of school colours facing the imposing banners opposite is the very symbol of the National Track & Field Inter-School Championships.

The first event of note was the A Girls 100m, which saw three RI representatives in Jannah Wong, Joy Chia and Rachel Koh, all of whom were strong contenders for a podium finish but facing stiff competition such as HCI’s Lynette Goh, the fastest qualifier. Running in lane 4, Lynette pipped Jannah to the line and Rachel rounded off the podium with Joy coming in 5^th, achieving a 2-3-5 finish.

Next, the A Boys took to the century sprint. Focus was etched on Ezra Toh’s face, our only representative in the final, as he stared down the home straight. His main competitor was V S Mohammed Jawhardeen, a secondary 5 student from Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School, who had edged him out in the 200m final a few days earlier. This time, Ezra was quickly out of the blocks and after about 30-40m, he matched Jawhardeen stride for stride. However, Jawhardeen’s longer legs proved decisive as his superior stride length with every increasing step saw him pull away and finish in a very fast time of 10.79. Ezra followed closely behind in 10.99, a personal best.

(Apart from the A Division, special mention goes to Year 2 student Joshua Yap for winning the C Division Boys’ 100m!)

After these short, nerve-wrecking sprint events that were over in a flash, the next event of RI representation was the A Girls 800m, where RI’s flag was flown high by Elisa Djuhar, Janielle Lim and Mary-Lisa Chua. The race was a controlled one for the first 400m with all of the RI girls in the mix but at the sound of the bell, Mary made a sudden brave move to take off and surge to the front, opening up a 30m gap on what became a chasing pack. This allowed a previously congested competitors’ field to open up as the 2 HCI girls at the front sought to increase the pace to keep up with Mary. Meanwhile, Janielle manoeuvred her way to the front of the chasing pack and started her finishing kick with about 250m left to go, leaving the chasing pack in her wake as she sprinted clear of the field to finish almost 2 seconds clear of the silver medallist, adding the 800m gold to her earlier 2000m steeplechase victory. When asked what gave her such the ability to run such an impressive race, Janielle said, “Praise God!”

Next, the A Boys took to the track, with Justin John Surin, Heng Yu Jie and Joshua Nga aiming to complete the 3¾ rounds faster than the rest. The race ended up tactical, with no one willing to take the lead: Yu Jie set the pace from the start and led for the full first 1100m with Justin matching him stride for stride, but the pace gradually slowed, before suddenly increasing again as the bell rung to indicate the last 400m. The 800m champion, Benjamin Tang of HCI, had gradually made his way up the field to join Justin and Yu Jie at the front, with the slow pace allowing quite a few runners to stick dangerously close.

However, at 250m, the three runners in front sped up to attack the final bend, with Benjamin taking off first, followed closely by Yu Jie and Justin. Heading into the home straight, Benjamin was struggling to hold on and Yu Jie was fast closing on him, although the remaining 80m appeared slightly too short a distance to catch up. Yet, Yu Jie did a scorching last sprint and nearly edged out Benjamin, only to nudge him across the finish line first, unfortunately losing out by 0.01 seconds, having completed the last 200m in 27 seconds.

Finally, it was time for the most eagerly anticipated events of the Track & Field finals every year – the relays, where RI was expected to do well with many of the top runners. Before the A Division races, the C Division Boys had served up a nail-biting finish neck to neck with the Sports School runner. Despite being nearly a head shorter, RI’s representative outsprinted his taller opponent to secure the gold in truly inspiring form. Perhaps this would serve as a springboard for later RI successes, and sure enough, RI swept the 4x100m for both A Boys and A Girls virtually unopposed as they finished with huge leads and well clear of their competitors.

In the 4x400m, RI were strong contenders as well despite several runners suffering injuries. In the A Girls race, they came very close and Jannah was locked in a battle with the HCI runner throughout the anchor leg. They ran virtually side by side before HCI managed to open a slight gap on the home straight to take the gold. And the A Boys, despite missing key runners, put up a strong fight and led from the start, holding their own and fighting to the very end with Fanghua anchoring them home to a bronze medal finish.

All in all, the A Girls demolished the other schools to storm to the title by a whopping 71 points difference from runners-up HCI, rounding off a ruthlessly dominant performance by the RI girls. For the A Boys, we eventually lost narrowly by 30 points, also to HCI, despite a good showing by the boys.

Looking back on what has been an eventful season of highs and lows, Ezra Toh, captain of the Track & Field team, reflected: “What keeps us going is the passion that we possess and the fantastic support which each and every team member receives. We may be competing in individual events, but we will always cheer our hearts out for each other because in the midst of this seemingly individualistic sport, we are still a team. And each of us through this, would realize how much we need the team.”

He also paid tribute to the various athletes who had contributed to the cause despite suffering from numerous injuries and setbacks, and as he put it, “We fought hard for every point despite the bleak circumstances”. For the boys, Eric Yun pulled his hamstring just 2 weeks before Nationals but still fought to run the 110m Hurdles and place 7^th. For the girls, Elisa Djuhar deserves special mention — she had broken her ankle 2 months before, but persevered to recover well enough to run in the 800m finals on the final day, a true testament to the grit and tenacity that RI Track & Field embodies.

Jannah, the 100m hurdles champion and 100m runners-up, added, “I’m happy about my 100 even though I got second because I managed to get a PB [personal best] I never thought I could achieve. I’m extremely happy about our 4×100 because all our hard work definitely paid off with a gold. About the 4×400, I felt kind of bad because I lost to Hwa Chong in the last 50m and settled with a silver but after everything was over, I felt relieved but at the same time sad because I knew that I couldn’t run with the seniors as a team anymore. But overall, this nationals [competition] has been super meaningful to me.”

Mr Melvin Tan said that “The A-(division) girls did magnificently, and for the B-(division) boys, considering all the problems they faced, they did magnificently as well.” He also added: “As long as they become better people at the end of this, all of them are winners.”

(RI Track & Field would like to thank our teachers-in-charge, Mr Tay Meng Kiat, Ms Seetoh, Mr Khaw Kaimin, Mr Lin Run Er, Mr Vincent Quek as well as our coaches, Mr Melvin Tan, Mr Steven Quek, Mr John Seem, Mr Ng Kean Mun, Mr Chia Ching Yi, Mr Joe and all those who have supported us.)

By Mathew Gan (14A01C) and Vo Van Quoc Toan (14S05A)

At 5 P.M. on Tuesday, April 16, our Shooting team returns to school from their national prize presentation. They have just gone through a week of intensive inter-school competition and, now, back at school and enjoying a celebratory buffet dinner, the joyful looks on their faces speak volumes.

With 2 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze trophies in total, Raffles Institution was the best in overall standing for the college section. In addition to this, our shooters also obtained six individual medals (1st/2nd/3rd).

Our shooters faced stiff competition from long-time, undoubtedly strong rivals such as Singapore Sports School and Hwa Chong Institution, with Catholic Junior College in particular performing excellently, setting new Championships and Division Records in the Girls A Division Pistol finals. Nevertheless, our shooters retained their spirit and fought hard to gain top positions throughout the tournament.

For the uninitiated, shooting, in one word, is a sport of discipline, and a game of endurance. Each individual has 60 shots with a maximum score of 600. If you think mistakes are part and parcel of the competition, you are woefully wrong. Each shooter we asked told us this: “Every shot counts.” A poor shot means that the shooter should take a short rest to regain clarity of mind so as to not make consecutive mistakes. National standards are top-notch; competitive shooters cannot usually afford to make any miscalculations in any of their 60 shots.

Case in point, our girls beat Hwa Chong Institution in the air rifle category by a margin of four points out of a maximum of 1800, to attain team Gold. Similarly, the Boys Pistol Team dominated their rivals, arriving at a convincing team first with the top two individual positions in the bag. In addition, the Girls Pistol and Boys Air Rifle teams also performed well, achieving third and second overall respectively, all with at least one shooter in the top three for individual rankings.

“Train hard, have fun, and do your best” is the motto that Herman, captain of the Shooting team, advocates. And this they did. Training up to four times (and sometimes even more) per week for nearly a month running up to the competition is no easy task, especially for the busy RJC student.

Pistol shooter Seah Yi told us that shooters regularly do tutorials during training breaks. And, as they train at Safra Yishun, with limited spaces, our shooters have to share the range with the rest of Singapore’s shooters, so training timings may not always be optimal. On some days, shooters end training only after half past nine at night, and with homework to top it off when they get home.

Having pulled through the hectic pre-competition trainings, the final showdown is in an intense hour or longer, depending on the division.

“Shooting is about having a quality of mind: one that is not shaken easily, one that can take the stresses of competition,” explains RI Year 1-6 Pistol coach Qian. The weapon categories and training methodologies of Pistol coach Qian and Rifle coach Li may be different, but the basic mindset is similar. Glen of the Boys Rifle team demonstrated this trait wonderfully in maintaining his composure after his gun malfunctioned, resulting in a 10 point deduction, a heavy penalty for shooters of his calibre. However, he managed to salvage his competition, with the team falling behind Hwa Chong by a margin of 13 points. The competition may well have been won if not for the unfortunate malfunctioning of his rifle.

“Those were stressful minutes,” confessed Seah Yi. At such a level of competition, he went on to say, the competitors’ skills were roughly equal, if not better than the Raffles team. The concentration that shooters have to maintain becomes the most important factor in shooting well and excellently. Interruptions are the bane of competitors: one has to retain a cool head and undistracted mind to shoot well. “It’s a mind game,” he said.

The Girls Pistol team may have achieved a bronze this year, but it was still an achievement for the team. Coach Qian is very satisfied with the results the team delivered, and hopes that the team would continue to work hard.

Although the Boys Pistol team attained first by quite a margin of 39, coach Qian felt that they could have done even better — “I have high expectations for them because they do have the ability and potential to shoot even better. It is indeed a hard target to reach, so we will continue working on it with the batches to come.”

Liang Lei of the pistol boys’ team admitted modestly, “If we shot at this level in the B division, where the competition is fiercer, we probably would have gotten a team second or third.”

But Boys Rifle team member Chan Jau Tung probably has the best competition spirit of all: “It’s improving yourself that counts, not defeating your competitors. Only then can you achieve true excellence.”

For detailed scorings, please visit the SSSC website.