Old is gold as seniors compete in Seniors National Games finals

SINGAPORE – With one hand on a plastic chair for support, 90-year-old Kwok Noi nonchalantly aims at the goal and calmly throws three discs in quick succession before being met with warm embraces from her teammates. 

With her amazing “hit rate” and zen demeanour, she gives off the vibe of a seasoned athlete, but Kwok, who has osteoporosis, has only been playing disc golf for a year and a half. Now, she is competing in the Seniors National Games finals, held at OCBC Arena on Aug 4.

“It’s amazing that she can aim that well because her eyesight is already very poor,” said her 68-year-old daughter Chan Yip Pheng, who also happens to be her teammate.

The pair took up the sport when they joined the Allkin Active Ageing Centre in Sengkang.

“She has age-related macular degeneration which particularly makes sight in her right eye very blurry, but somehow she manages to throw the disc into the net much better than me,” Chan added.

Organised by Sport Singapore (SportSG) as part of the annual GetActive! Singapore festivities, the Seniors National Games is open to those aged 60 and above and features five adaptive sports – boccia, disc golf, ladder toss, seated floorball and sport stacking – modified to allow individuals of varying abilities to participate.

Zonal heats were held in the first half of June, with the top performing teams advancing to the finals. 

Kwok, while being one of the oldest participants in the finals, was just one of more than 6,000 senior athletes belonging to various active ageing centres and grassroots organisations who took part in the competition, which is in its second year. 

The atmosphere was buzzing, akin to National School Games finals. Teams had their own cheerleaders and even sported their own customised looks. Some wore specialised eyewear to play their games, while others, like Kim Cho and her team from the Lions Befrienders (Bendemeer 32) Active Ageing Centre, wore arm sleeves with tattoo motifs to differentiate themselves from other teams.

Teams were also not to be treated lightly, as an air of competitiveness was quite apparent, with intermittent shouts of both victory and frustration heard in the arena, adding to the great spectacle of the sports on display. 

While Chan and her mother only made it to the quarter-finals with their team, she feels that taking up the sport and joining the games has an extra benefit.

“When my mum was young she didn’t have either the time nor luxury to pursue anything even remotely related to sports – she had several part-time jobs while we were growing up,” said Chan. 

“On normal days we have very different interests – I read and browse the internet, while she watches television and likes to cook. So throughout the competition we have developed a stronger bond which actually cemented our close relationship”