National Interschool Wushu Championships- Day 1

Today was Day 1 of the National Interschool Wushu Championships,

After all our months of hard work and sacrificing our Mar holidays to train in Beijing, China, we approached this day with a mixture of excitment and anxiousness.

First, up was Lee Jing Wei in the Sword 1st International Routine

Jingwei's final score of 8.31 gave him a tie with 4 other competitiors for 2nd place. We kept our fingers crossed and our hard work training in Beijing paid off when the final results were announced with Jingwei placing 2nd!

Next was the B-Boys Nanquan, despite not having access to carpeted training areas, our team boys still managed to training for the technical movements in this event.
Ryan Goh, our Team Captain managed to give a strong showing and managed his jumps well despite the lack of opportunity to practice.


Kong Wei Chung, our 'foreign talent'-- our first ASEAN scholar with wushu background proved that he works hard not only in studies but that he is able to have a balance between CCA and academic achievement as well. Weichung was awarded most hardworking athlete during our trip to Beijing


But despite their best efforts, our fellow competitors were too strong for them and both boys remained unplaced in the Nan Quan event.

Darren Tan was next to take part in the Nan Dao event.

Likewise, competition in this event was intense with strong, vibrant performances from our fellow competitors. Although, Darren was unplaced in this event, he remained undeterred and determined to strive harder for his following events.
That's the spirit!

Our biggest boost in morale came with the appearance of Bernie Ang on the scene today. A few days ago, Bernie was diagnosed with a severe eye infection and it seemed likely that he would have to withdraw from competition.
However, his fighting spirit allowed him to overcome the infection and recover fast.
In fact, he showed up straight for the competition right from the doctor's appointment. This spurred our other athlete Kangjie who was also competing in the same event.
Although Kangjie's designated routine is actually Taiji, this year he decided to push himself and sign up for one more event in the 4-Duan Broadsword. Bernie's appearance must have encourage him because today's performance by Kang Jie was indeed his best ever:

Even though Kangjie didn't get to place, the entire team's spirit was lifted by Bernie's presence and Kang Jie's improvement.

Encouraged by Kang Jie's performance, Bernie gave his best:

Bernie's fighting spirit to overcome his illness and recover was rewarded by a second place in the event! Well done Bernie, we are sure you are on the way to a full recovery!

Last but not least, Fung Jin Jie faced tough competition in the B-Boys Changquan 2nd International Routine:

Despite tough competition, Jinjie gave a flawless performance and it was a close fight for the championship. Jinjie's score of 8.93 lost by a narrow margin of 0.12pts to his fellow competitor Yuxiang who scored 9.05.
It was good to see our boys pitted against such strong opponents- in this way both parties are pushed to excel and give off their best.
Although Jin Jie had to contend with a second place, we were all very satisfied with his performance.

So we have gone off to a good start on our first day with 3 silver medals.


But boys we cannot be complacent now- you have seen the standard and effort put in by all our competitors. Let us be inspired by them and work harder so that win or lose, we will earn the respect of our supporters as well as our competitors!

VS Wushu, 争气，争气，争气！