Competition Report: Gymnastics

Hwa Chong gymnasts competed last Wednesday (31^st March) at the National Trampoline Championships. Both girls and boys emerged champions. 

The girls, touted from early on as favourites, had to match considerable expectations. Defending a title that Hwa Chong has held for a prolonged period speculatively dating back to the early Qing dynasty, there was tremendous pressure upon the girls to deliver similar results. 

The boys, conversely, entered the arena as underdogs, nevertheless determined to defy daunting odds to overcome the opposition. Mr Terng Yew Lian, Head of PE, wisely summarized their mission with the words “Bring it back.” He was referring to the A Division Boys championship trophy, which has been missing from our school’s trophy cabinet for the past three years, gathering dust in the hands of RJC. 

The boys mounted the trampoline one by one to present their routines, honed almost to perfection by the past year’s training. Delwin Koh stepped up to represent the team first. Displaying his signature composure, he kept a straight face right through the complex series of aerial manoeuvres, remaining steady to rack up a decent score of 8.95. Following that, Wang Renfei took his place with unmistakable flourish, bolstering the team’s confidence with a score of 9.10. 

Team captain Akilan then stepped forward, but an uncharacteristic slip-up cost him dearly, coming in with a split lip and a dismal score of 9.00. This was a massive disappointment to his vast sea of supporters, who made sure their displeasure was heard clearly throughout the competition hall. Who better, then, to restore the faith than Kester Kiong? Charming the crowd with his comic antics and natural good looks, he executed an outstanding routine far surpassing his rather average abilities to come in alongside Renfei with 9.10. 

The blood of our contestants was mingled with the tears of our opponents when their final scores were announced – our Hwa Chong boys had edged out closest rivals RJ by a mere 0.05 points, which is a positive real number < 1 which seemed almost unreal to our supporters. RJ in turn beat CJ by exactly the same unbelievably slim margin, marking an afternoon of high drama and spectacular showmanship. To put the icing on our cake, Kester and Renfei tied for individual third position. 

This narrow victory could hardly have prepared our supporters to witness our Girls team in action, as they virtually romped their way to a clean sweep of the podium. The experienced squad, led by the majestic figure of Girls’ captain Ng Jie Qi, blew away all competition and swept the audience off their feet with a stellar demonstration of the A Division routine. 

Debutante Ng Min Yi startled those who had not anticipated her explosion onto the A Division scene, clinching the individual gold with great style and a score of 9.45. 

Amanda Lau, the reigning individual champion, fell slightly short of her personal standards, scoring 9.40. Her standards are obviously a cut above the rest, for even then she took the silver medal. 

Amanda Tan, against expectations, did not experience a psychological breakdown, and calmly executed a sterling routine to silence critics who had doubted her mental stability. She grabbed the remaining bronze with her well-deserved score of 9.20. 

Ng Jie Qi rounded up the day with a score of 8.95. Though she was disappointed, this score represented the dedication she has displayed over the course of her illustrious career, while the scores of her teammates bear testament to the immense support she has rendered as captain of the girls’ team. 

On the 6th of April, members of the Hwa Chong Gymnastics Team competed in the National Artistic Gymnastics Championships. 

As there were  but because there were not enough teams, there was no team event. Thus, our representatives competed for individual medals in six events, and for the overall placing. 

Kester Kiong – 2 Bronze medals
Akilan Shanmugaratnam – 2 Silver medals, overall THIRD place
Wang Renfei – 4 Silver and 1 Bronze, overall SECOND place
Timothy Tay – 6 Gold medals, overall FIRST place 

The team would like to dedicate these results to our coaches Mr Wang Yong Fa and Mr Lim Kok Siong, our teacher in-charge Mrs Toh for her genuine interest in our progress, Mr Terng for his advice, and Ms Chen for her support. Along with that, we would like to recognize the unseen efforts of our teammates who did not compete this year.

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Match Report: Trampoline Finals

A DIVISION TRAMPOLINE BOYS:

Name, Class, Score, Rank

DARRELL ANG 08S69, 9.3, 2nd

AKILAN SHAMUGARATNAM 09A14, 9.25, 4th

TAN CHUN YAN 08S6D, 9.15, 7th

JEVON CHANDRA 08S69, 9.1, 9th

ERWIN WAN 08S60, 8.95, 12th

BOYS TEAM: 2ND

A DIVISION TRAMPOLINE GIRLS:

Name, Class, Score, Rank

LAU SHERNIN AMANDA, 09S6F 9.6, 1st

LOW YI JUN JEANNE, 08S77 9.2, 2nd

TAN CHEK YIN AMANDA, 09S68 8.95, 3rd

LIU JIAQI 09S7J, 8.3, 9th

NG JIE QI 09S75, 8, 12th

GIRLS TEAM: CHAMPIONS

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