Gold galore for Methodist schools

The Methodist family of schools stamped their mark on the B Division bowling competition of the National School Games (NSG) yesterday.

Methodist Girls' School (MGS) completed a near clean sweep of the titles at stake, winning the overall, quartet and the all-events competitions.

They also won the doubles event on Tuesday, missing out only on the singles gold which went to CHIJ Katong Convent's Amelynn Danielle Sim last week.

MGS romped to the overall title with 10 ranking points, largely thanks to the performance of Chee Jaye Min (3,607 pinfalls), Megan Rei Ong (3,589), Lim Wan Ling (3,581) and Jenell Chia (3,577), who occupied the top four positions of the all-events leaderboard.

Singapore Sports School (SSP) were second on 52 points while St Margaret's Secondary School were third with 92.

Before the NSG were cancelled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, MGS were runners-up to SSP in 2019, and Jaye Min never expected such a margin of victory this time.

The 16-year-old said: "This was not part of our master plan. We were focused on winning the championship as a team but winning the top four places (in the all-events) was really a pleasant surprise."

She attributed their victory to teamwork. The Sec 4 student said: "Over the years, the team have bonded a lot both on and off the lanes. I think the teamwork and camaraderie this team have really led to our victory."

In the boys' competition, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) left the Singapore Bowling @ Rifle Range lanes with the overall and quartet titles.

But the all-events title eluded them, going to singles champion Ryan Toh (3,930 pinfalls) of Westwood Secondary School.

Beating 2019 champions SSP, who had 57 points, by 17 points for the overall crown was particularly sweet for ACS (I) as they regained the title they last won in 2018.

Sec 4 student Eugene Yeo, team captain and their highest scorer with 3,767 pinfalls, was thankful for the chance to fight for honours again.

The 17-year-old said: "It feels great to bring home the overall schools championship trophy again. More importantly, we are grateful for the opportunity to compete again and would like to thank everyone who made the tournament possible."

For the MGS team, they would like their successors to soak in the experience next year.

Jaye Min left them with this bit of advice: "Train hard, fight as a team and believe in yourself. Enjoy the journey."