To the record 1,700 students who took part in the National Chinese Challenge 2017, the Chinese-language contest can be intense, especially for the finalists - four secondary schools and four primary schools - jostling for the respective titles.

Take the Dunman High School team, for example, which was hovering between the bottom two places until the last quick-fire round where teams had to guess idioms from pictures. The team breezed past the other finalists but lost to eventual winners Nanyang Girls' High School, which won for the third consecutive year.

"Actually, we are glad to have made it to the finals for the first time," said Dunman High's Hiew Min Zong, 16, a Secondary 4 student.

Yan Bin Bin, 14, from Nanyang Girls' High School, described how intense it was for her team.

"There was a lot of pressure on us as we felt that we had to live up to the legacy our seniors have left behind, and we are glad that we have successfully defended this title. Many of our friends also skipped classes to come down and support us," said the Sec 3 student.

Raffles Institution finished third in the secondary school category of the challenge, which took place yesterday at Our Tampines Hub.

In the primary school category, Princess Elizabeth Primary School was first, followed by Raffles Girls' and Jurong West respectively.

Minister for Education (Schools) Ng Chee Meng presented awards to the winning teams.