Editor's Choice

Star Light, Star Bright

Singapore Sports Awards

Singapore Sports School’s past and present student-athletes have been nominated for seven of 15 categories of this year’s Singapore Sports Awards to be presented at Marina Mandarin Hotel on 5 August 2015.

The Sportswoman of the Year award is being contested by alumnus bowler Jazreel Tan Shi Hua, alumnus swimmer Tao Li, shooter Jasmine Ser and table tennis player Feng Tian Wei. The Sportsgirl of the Year title is vied by Secondary 4 student-athlete shooter Martina Lindsay P Veloso, sailor Samantha Yom and table tennis player Lin Ye.

Jazreel, 25, is Team Singapore’s most bemedalled athlete at the Incheon 2014 Asian Games with 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medals; Tao Li, 25, had won the Women’s 50m Butterfly silver medal and Women’s 100m Butterfly bronze medal at the Asian Games.

Martina, 15, defeated some of the best shooters in the world to win the International Shooting Sport Federation Women’s 10m Air Rifle World Cup gold medal, becoming the only Singaporean to ever win the title. She also won the Women’s 10m Air Rifle silver medal at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games.

No one from the Sports School is contesting for the Sportsman of the Year, Sportsboy of the Year and Coach of the Year, the other three individual accolades.

Two groups of youth sportsmen and sportswomen are up for the Sportsboy/Sportsgirl Team of the Year (Event) award. Sports School student-athletes Debbie Soh Li Fei, Gwyneth Goh Xiao Hui and Natalie Chen Mei Qing, alumni Crystal Yap Yu Hui, Lee Mei Shuang and Stephanie Chen Mei Qi, together with five teammates won the TYR Southeast Asian Swimming Championship Synchronised Swimming Team Technical and Free, and Team Combination gold

medals. Their contender is the pair of Loh Jia Yi and Jonathan Yeo who won the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships Boys 420 gold medal.

The Women’s Team of 5 that won the gold medal at the Asian Games, comprising of Jazreel, fellow alumni Daphne Tan Shi Jing and New Hui Fen, together with Cherie Tan, Joey Yeo and Shayna Ng, is vying for the Team of the Year (Event) award, as are the Badminton Men’s Doubles team of Danny Bawa Christnanta and Chayut Triyachart, Table Tennis Men’s Doubles team of Gao Ning and Li Hu and Sailing Women’s 420 team of Kimberly Lim and Savannah Siew.

The Women’s Netball Team with Kimberly Lim Wei Yan and Nur 'Aqilah Afiqah Andin Agustino Saman that won the 2014 Mission Foods Asian Netball Championships is up against the Men’s Water Polo Team for the Team of the Year (Team Sport) award.

All Nominees (from Singapore Sports School)

Sportswoman of the Year

Jazreel Tan Shi Hua (Bowling)

Tao Li (Swimming)

Sportsgirl of the Year Martina Lindsay P Veloso (Shooting)

Team of the Year (Event)

Incheon 2014 Asian Games Bowling Women’s Team of 5

Daphne Tan Shi Jing Jazreel Tan Shi Hua

New Hui Fen

Sportsboy/Sportsgirl Team of the Year (Event)

TYR Southeast Asian Swimming Championship Synchronised Swimming Team Technical and Free, and Team Combination Crystal Yap Yu Hui Debbie Soh Li Fei Gwyneth Goh Xiao Hui Lee Mei Shuang Natalie Chen Mei Qing

Stephanie Chen Mei Qi

Meritorious Award – Senior (Event)

Badminton – Incheon 2014 Asian Games Mixed Team

Liang Xiao Yu Terry Yee Yong Kai

Bowling – Incheon 2014 Asian Games Women’s Trios

Jazreel Tan Shi Hua

New Hui Fen

Sailing – Incheon 2014 Asian Games Men's J80

Andrew Paul Chan Li Jian

Sailing – Incheon 2014 Asian Games Women's 29er

Cecilia Low Rui Qi

Shooting – Incheon 2014 Asian Games Men's Standard Air Pistol Nigel Lim Swee Hon (Staff)

Swimming – Incheon 2014 Asian Games Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay

Clement Lim Yong'En

Pang Sheng Jun

Table Tennis – World Team Table Tennis Championships Women's Team

Isabelle Li Siyun

Yee Herng Hwee

Table Tennis – Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Men's Team

Clarence Chew Zhe Yu

Table Tennis – Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Women's Team

Isabelle Li Siyun

Meritorious Award – Sportsboy/Sportsgirl (Individual)

Neville Lim Woon Jui (Fencing)

Nicole Mae Wong Hui Shan (Fencing)

Muhammad Nur Alfian Juma'en (Pencak Silat)

Bryce Chong Sheng Cher (Triathlon)

Feature

Shanti Sprints To ST Win

ST Star Of The Month

Veronica Shanti Pereira (centre) receiving the ST Star of the Month Award from FNN Foods Marketing Manager, Beverages Singapore, Celine Tan and ST Sport Editor Marc Lim.

Veronica Shanti Pereira’s reward for getting the crowd on their feet during the Singapore 2015 Southeast Asian Games was a gold and bronze medal, and 3 national records. And now, the national sprinter can add the title of “The Straits Times Star of the Month” to her list of accolades.

Shanti was named The Straits Times Star of the Month for June 2015 following her outstanding performances at the Sea Games.

She became the first Singaporean in 42 years to medal in the Women’s 100m after she finished 3rd in a time of 11.88s, on 9 June 2015. A day later, she made sure “Majulah, Singapura” was played at the National Stadium when she crossed the finish line first in the Women’s 200m, setting a new national record with her time of 23.60s.

The Year 3 student-athlete on the Sports School customised Diploma in Sports and Leisure Management programme also helped Team Singapore set two national records in the Women’s 4x100m and 4x400m Relays. The Women’s 4x400m relay team comprising alumni T Piriyah and alumnus Dipna Lim Prasad,

Goh Chui Ling and Shanti finished 4th in a time of 3:40.58s, breaking Singapore Athletics’ oldest record set by Glory Barnabas, Chee Swee Lee, Maimoon Azian and Lee Tai Jong at the Tehran 1974 Asian Games.

Shanti then teamed up with Dipna, alumnus Wendy Enn and Smiriti Menon to set another new national mark of 45.41s in the Women’s 4x100m Relay as they agonisingly missed out on a medal having tied with Malaysia but losing out in a photo finish.

Shanti was presented the trophy by ST Sports Editor Marc Lim and Miss Celine Tan, F&N Foods Marketing Manager, Beverages Singapore, at a lunch-cum-award ceremony on 9 July 2015.

Veronica Shanti Pereira with her family.

Sports

Alkmaar Adventure Reaps 2 Golds, 4 Silvers, 2 Bronzes

49th International Children’s Games

Ong Kaifen

Head, Rehabilitation & Analysis Services

Assistant Head, Cluster (Sports)

Our student-athletes competed against 1,300 of their peers from 88 cities at the 49th International Children’s Games in Alkmaar, Netherlands, from 24 to 29 June 2015. Amidst the high level of competition, our 17 student-athletes – 2 from the Golf Academy, 7 from the Swimming Academy and 8 from the Track and Field Academy – won 2 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze medals. In addition, they also achieved 14 personal best timings/marks.

The majority of the medals came from the swimming pool, where the swimmers accounted for 2 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze medals. Maximilian Ang Wei won the 200m Breaststroke gold medal and 100m Breaststroke and 200m Individual Medley silver medals. Koh Liang Jun won the Boys' 50m Backstroke gold medal, the 50m Freestyle silver medal and 100m Backstroke bronze medal.

In athletics, Tia Louise Rozario clinched a silver medal in the Girls’ Long Jump when she equalled her personal best distance of 5.57m. Chong Wei Guan finished 3rd in the Boys’ 100m sprint.

Golfers Charles Benjamin Alliston and Tommy Tan Xuan Hao finished 6th and 7th out of 15 golfers with scores of 10-over 154 (74, 80) and 11-over 155 (78, 77).

Outside of competition, our student-athletes soaked in the culture of the city including its renowned cheese markets, and made new friends with the other competitors. They also demonstrated one aspect of the School Values – Respect – as they made efforts to thank the officials and volunteers throughout the Games.

Boys 200m Breaststroke gold medallist Maximillian Ang Wei.

Charles Benjamin Alliston (left) and Tommy Tan Xuan Hao.

Best In Class

2015 NEO GARDEN SINGAPORE NATIONAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Hoong En Qi is beginning to bear the first fruits of her labour. A month ago, the Secondary 4 student-athlete won her first gold medal at her Southeast Asian Games debut. Then, on 28 June, she earned the Most Valuable Female Swimmer title after winning 7 medals – 4 golds and 3 silvers – at the 2015 Neo Garden Singapore National Swimming Championships.

The butterfly specialist dominated over 50m, winning the race in 27.31s and beating national teammate Nur Marina Chan by a 0.41s margin. En Qi’s second individual gold medal came from the Women’s 100m Freestyle. She gave herself a clear lead, touching the wall in a time of 58.00s ahead of Christie Chue (58.64s) and Chan Zi Yi (58.76s). She won two more gold medals in the 4x100m and 4x200m Freestyle relays, and achieved second-place finishes in the 50m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly and 4x100m Medley Relay.

En Qi credits her achievements to the support received from Singapore Sports School. In preparing for the Sea Games, the swimmer received sport science support such as nutrition advice, sport analysis, and sport physiotherapy.

"Winning the Most Valuable Female Swimmer award was unexpected. Many of my teammates from the national team, who had competed in the Sea Games, were competing in this meet as well. I went into this competition just wanting to do my best.

“Winning my first gold medal at my Sea Games debut has motivated me to train harder towards achieving my dream of competing at the Olympic Games.

“Sports School's sport science team played a part in my recent achievements. The team made sure that I was emotionally and physically ready to compete against the region’s best. They arranged for me to meet Sport Psychologist Miss Kok Chun Li to better cope with the competition pressure. This, coupled with Coach Fang Hai Jiao's training, has helped me better my personal best in the 100m Butterfly, my pet event, by almost a second – a significant improvement for a sprint event. This is only the start of my sporting career and I'm looking forward to more of such results in the future."

Post-Secondary student-athletes also gave strong performances over the three-day meet. Republic Polytechnic-Singapore Sports School Diploma in Sports and Leisure Management swimmers Benedict Boon Ji Chao was Sports School’s next best performer, collecting 1 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals, while Malcolm Low Wei Yang and Oh Yao Jie each won 3 medals.

Results

Gold

Women’s 100m Freestyle – Hoong En Qi Women’s 50m Butterfly – Hoong En Qi Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay – Hoong En Qi Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay – Hoong En Qi Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay – Benedict Boon Ji Chao, Oh Yao Jie

Silver

Women’s 50m Freestyle – Hoong En Qi Women’s 100m Butterfly – Hoong En Qi Women’s 200m Butterfly – Chin Khar Yi Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay – Hoong En Qi Men’s 50m Freestyle – Benedict Boon Ji Chao

Men’s 1,500m Freestyle – Benedict Boon Ji Chao

Men’s 200m Backstroke – Malcolm Low Wei Yang

Men’s 200m Individual Medley – Malcolm Low Wei Yang

Bronze

Men’s 200m Freestyle – Benedict Boon Ji Chao

Men’s 400m Freestyle – Benedict Boon Ji Chao

Men’s 1,500m Freestyle – Oh Yao Jie

Men’s 100m Backstroke – Malcolm Low Wei Yang

Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay – Dynes Quek Yi Chen, Oh Yao Jie

Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay – Michelle Lee Chuan Ling

Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay – Amanda Tam An Tian

23RD MSSM-WALA-SSSC U14 & U15 INTERNATIONAL LITTLE ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Jenny Lim

Senior General Manager, Track and Field Academy

Best Athlete Award U15 recipients Tia Louise Rozario (centre) and Chong Wei Guan (second from right).

Chong Wei Guan and Tia Louise Rozario were presented the Best Athlete award in the U15 category following their 2-gold feats at the 23rd MSSM-WALA-SSSC U14 & U15 International Little Athletics Championships.

Representing the Singapore Schools team, our student-athletes won a total of 5 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze medals at the meet at Bukit Jalil Sports School, Malaysia, from 11 to 12 July 2015.

Wei Guan won gold medals in the Boys 100m Hurdles and 200m Hurdles. Tia finished 1st in the Girls 100m Hurdles and leaped to victory in the Long Jump. Jezebel Koh Xin Yun finished 3rd in both the Girls Triple Jump and High Jump events.

Diane Hilary Pragasam and Raine Oh Shuqin were in the U14 Girls 4x100m Relay team that won the gold medal. Raine also won a silver medal in the U14 Girls 100m.

It was an all-Sports School team – Raeshon Loo Wei Ming, Mohamed Zulkhairi Putera Mohamed Zali, Muhamad Nurshahilman Noradee and Muhammad Hazim Ismail – that finished 2nd in the U14 Boys 4x400m Relay. Raeshon also won a silver medal as part of the 4x100m Relay team. Azizul Rijal Zahari lowered his

personal best time in the U14 Boys 100m Hurdles and clinched bronze, while Arfan Azhar achieved a new personal best distance in the U14 Boys Triple Jump and finished 3rd.

FENCING

Experiencing Top Class Action Right At Home

Asian Fencing Championships 2015

Ralf Bissdorf

Head Coach, Fencing Academy

Singapore hosted the 2015 Asian Fencing Championships from 25 to 30 June 2015 and it was an excellent opportunity for Singapore’s top fencers to gain experience amidst a world class field.

Competing in the same weapon class as top ranked Epee fencers like Sun Yujie of China (World No. 6) and Shin A Lam of South Korea (World No. 10), Singapore Sports School alumnus Cheryl Lim finished 11th out of 59 fencers in the Women’s Epee Individual event. Gaining 12 points, Cheryl is now ranked World No. 102 and is the highest ranked female Singaporean Epee fencer.

Alumnus Nicole Mae Wong Hui Shan also put in a good showing at the Championships. Nicole finished 18th out of 48 fencers in the Women’s Foil Individual and is now ranked World No. 109. She was also a member of the Women’s Foil team that finished 5th, which was the country’s best showing in the Championships.

Zachary Chen Yi, a first year student-athlete in the Republic Polytechnic-Singapore Sports School Diploma in Sports and Leisure Management programme, made his senior national debut at the Championships. He finished 52nd out of 75 fencers. With this result, Zachary earned 3 points and is ranked World No. 264, the first time he has featured in the World Rankings. Zachary is still eligible for Cadet (U17) competitions and competing at this level can only benefit his sporting development.

Some of our student-athletes were also involved as volunteers for this tournament and they had the chance to see Olympic and World Champions in action, picking up some important tips which will help in their fledging fencing careers.

Junior Fencers Shine In Selangor

Selangor Youth Fencing Open

Ralf Bissdorf

Head Coach, Fencing Academy

U14 Girls Epee gold medallist Veralyn Tan Chou Xin and bronze

medallist Siti Nursuhailah Selamat.

The Fencing Academy brought the Lower Secondary fencers to compete at the Selangor Youth Fencing Open, an U12 and U14 competition, from 20 to 21 June 2015. Fencing in two weapon groups – Epee and Foil – they did extremely well to win 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, considering that this was the first overseas competition for some of them.

Veralyn Tan Chou Xin won the gold medal in the U14 Girls’ Epee. She dominated the competition from the start, winning all her four matches in the first round and was seeded first after the poules. She went on to win all her Direct Elimination matches convincingly. The Final was a nail-biting encounter with a Malaysian fencer. Veralyn showed great determination and good fighting spirit and won 15-14. This was her first win in a fencing competition.

Another who did well in her maiden overseas competition was Secondary 1 student-athlete Siti Nursuhailah Selamat, who only started training with the Academy 6 months ago. Competing against older opponents, Siti fought her way up before losing in the Semi-Final. She was joint 3rd and it was her first medal in an international competition.

Matthew James Lim Quan Rong settled for silver after losing the U14 Boys’ Epee Final by the narrowest of margin 14-15 to his Malaysian opponent. Matthew, a Foilist, showed that he was just as adept in Epee by winning all his matches en route to the Final.

Eleanor Tan Shu Ya finished 2nd in the U14 Girls’ Foil. She had won all her matches but lost 5-10 to her Malaysian opponent in the Final.

Two of our Secondary 3 student-athletes, Brian Koh Shao Yang and Joven Tey Qi Long, volunteered to referee in this competition and both did a very good job.

Besides fencing, the Academy also took the time to visit the Batu Caves, where we learnt more about rare flat worms, spiders and bats. We also went to a batik factory and the Royal Selangor Pewter Factory.

Overall, this trip was a success as our junior fencers gained valuable competition experience against fencers from the region.

Results

U14 Boys’ Epee

Silver – Matthew James Lim Quan Rong

Top 8 – Xavier Chan Jun Xi Top 16 – Nicholas Yeo Xue Wen

U14 Girls’ Epee

Gold – Veralyn Tan Chou Xin

Bronze – Siti Nursuhailah Selamat

Top 8 – Jackie Grace Lau, Natalie Kuan Rui Lin

Top 16 – Aaliyaa Shu Qi Omar Marcus Tan

U14 Boys’ Foil Top 8 – Matthew James Lim Quan Rong

Top 16 – Max Neo Wei Kit

Poules – Jared Ng Jun Heng

U14 Girls’ Foil Silver – Eleanor Tan Shu Ya

U14 Boys Epee silver medallist Matthew James Lim Quan Rong.

U14 Girls Foil silver medallist Eleanor Tan Shu Ya.

GOLF

3 Days of Under-Par makes One Overjoyed Gregory

8th Warren MST Amateur Open

Shaun Chew

General Manager, Golf Academy

Men's Division champion Gregory Raymund Foo Yong En (left).

Singapore Sports School alumnus Gregory Raymund Foo Yong En’s accuracy on the greens saw him card under-par scores over three days to win the Men’s Division of the 8th Warren MST Amateur Open at Warren Golf and Country Club from 8 to 10 July 2015.

Gregory shot a 3-day total of 7-under 209 (69, 69, 71) and finished top in the field of 46 golfers, 8 shots ahead of runner-up Jesse Yap, who carded 1-over 217 (70, 72, 75). Singapore Sports School student-athlete Lucius Toh Zheng Xian shot the tournament’s lowest score with a 7-under 65 on the final day to move into to 3rd place with a total of 2-over 218 (75, 78, 65). Alumnus Joshua Shou Minqing (4th) and student-athletes Abdul Hadi Uda Thith (7th) and Marc Ong Chong Ching (10th) featured in the top 10.

Student-athlete Jacqueline De Los Reyes Young shot a 9-over 225 and finished 3rd in the Ladies’ Division, behind national teammate Koh Sock Hwee (4-over 222) and Hongkong Golf Association’s Tiffany Chan (6-over 222).

NETBALL

Our Auckland Experience

Academy Training Tour

Donna Schwalger-Blazey

Senior Coach, Netball Academy

Our netballers embarked on a training tour to Auckland, New Zealand, from 11 to 18 June 2015. We sent 22 Secondary 2 and 3 student-athletes and 4 staff on this trip which was funded by the EW Barker Endowment.

We played against teams from Whangaparoa College, Rangitoto College, Westlake Girls High School, and Takapuna Grammar. We also competed in a tournament against the North Harbor representative sides.

The competition was very tough because our opponents were taller, bigger and stronger than our girls even if they are the same age. While we won just one game, the netballers picked up many invaluable lessons and new experiences such as playing in the cold, wet winter conditions, and against tall and fast players.

In between games, we found time to take in the scenery and experience the culture. We took the ferry over to a little island called Devonport to eat fish and chips by the sea before climbing Mt Victoria to have the perfect view of a volcanic island called Rangitoto. A highlight for the girls was a trip to Rotorua on our last day. We stopped at Hobbiton for lunch and a guided tour of the movie site of Hobbit and Lord of the Rings which is situated on a farm.

The trip was successful on many fronts and the girls left Auckland gaining new netball skills and collecting many happy memories.

SHOOTING

Podium Targets

ISSF Junior Cup 2015

Picture by Alessandro Ceschi, ISSF.

Singapore Sports School shooters won 1 silver and 1 bronze medals for Singapore at the ISSF Junior Cup on 29 June 2015. The trio of Adele Tan Qian Xiu, Ho Xiu Yi and Martina Lindsay P Veloso shot their way to a Team silver with a combined score of 1,237.8 points in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle event. The fight for gold was close – with France eventually taking the coveted medal just 1.4 points ahead of the Singapore team, while South Korea came in 3rd, losing by a mere 0.3 points margin.

Martina also won a bronze medal in the individual event behind German Charleen Baenisch and Swiss Vanessa Hofstetter.

“The standard of competition was high and the fight for a podium finish was tough. It was a good experience and I'm happy with my performance,” said Martina.

A poor start in the Final saw her in seventh place after the first three shots. Undeterred, the Secondary 4 shooter climbed up three positions where she was tied with Rachel Martin of the USA in third place with two shots left in the round. However, a strong finish by Martina secured her a podium finish.

“Although Coach (Lim) Chea Rong wasn’t present with me during this competition, she had prepared me well and I’m really grateful for her help.”

Five other student-athletes took part in the competition in Suhl, Germany – Lenice Tan Yue Tong, Mohamad Irwan Abdul Rahman, Wong Ting Wei (Air Rifle), Fion Pan Cai Feng and Hew Yun Ting (Air Pistol).

School News

Sports For Fund

Project Champions Way

Singapore Sports School set out earlier this year to raise $100,000 for the Singapore Disability Sports Council and Club Rainbow (Singapore). Through the sale of t-shirts and donations, $83,000 has so far been raised.

The next activity is the Harmony Swim to be held in conjunction with Racial Harmony Day on Monday, 20 July 2015, the last day of our private fun-raising effort for the year. Student-athletes and staff who have not returned their donations and donation cards should do so by the end of the business day on Monday.

Sports School Is A ‘Bright Spot’

Keep Singapore Clean Movement

Many hands make light work and everyone’s constant and continual effort is needed to keep Singapore clean.

Minister Heng Swee Keat launched the Keep Singapore Clean Movement in July 2014 and the Ministry for Education followed it up by asking schools for an update on the key initiatives they have undertaken in line with the Movement. The Character and Citizenship Education Department of Student Development Curriculum Division and the Public Hygiene Council evaluated the submissions and recognised schools as Bright Spots if they had carried out routine cleaning and Values In Action projects relating to cleanliness within the school.

Singapore Sports School submitted the efforts of its Boarding School and on 29 June 2015, received news that we are now a “Bright Spot”.

Picking up litter and sweeping floors is a regular practice after any school event.

Neatness and tidiness create conduciveness in rooms for rest, relaxation and self-study.

Putting away rubbish where they belong is a norm.

Alumni News

NDP Honour

From left: Muhamad Farhan Supian, Nicklaus Chiam Yew Chun, Ryan Wee Wei Xuan and Gareth Tan Shao Siong.

Four Singapore Sports School alumni who are currently serving their national service will be marching as part of the four Guard of Honour contingents in the SG50 National Day Parade. The four – Badminton player Gareth Tan Shao Siong (Army), bowler Ryan Wee Wei Xuan (Navy), footballer Muhamad Farhan Supian (Police) and golfer Nicklaus Chiam Yew Chun (Air Force) – will join some 2,000 participants in the Parade.

“It’s truly an honour to be amongst the select few for the Air Force Guard of Honour contingent at this year’s National Day Parade. What’s more, it’s part of our SG50 celebrations, so it is even more special. We started our rehearsals in April and I'm pretty confident we will put on a good show for Singapore on National Day”, said Nicklaus.