Sibling rivalry motivates Ang sisters to NSG badminton glory for CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School
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Sisters Ellie (left) and Emma Ang of CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' School celebrating their win at the National School Games C Division girls final on Aug 27.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Follow topic:
- CHIJ St Nicholas retained their C Division National School Games badminton title, with Emma Ang securing the decisive 3-2 victory against Raffles Girls' School.
- Emma was inspired by her sister Ellie's previous win and the sisters' sibling rivalry motivates them.
- Raffles Institution's boys' team also retained their title, with Ng Yu Ze's close opening singles match setting the tone for a 5-0 victory.
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SINGAPORE – In 2024, Emma Ang sat in the stands of the OCBC Arena hall and watched her older sister Ellie jump for joy and emerge with a gold medal around her neck as CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School (Secondary) won the National School Games (NSG) C Division badminton League 1 title.
When it came to her chance to compete in the same stage and at the same venue on Aug 27, Emma was determined to win the same medal.
With both her school and Raffles Girls’ School (RGS) winning two matches each in the best-of-five final, it was Emma who delivered the decisive victory to ensure that St Nicholas won 3-2 and retained their title.
The Secondary 1 student said: “Last year, I came for their final and I saw that they fought very hard and all of them put in their effort to get the win. I wanted to experience that too and win the medal. And I thought of that during the game and it pushed me.”
RGS had led with Song Tao defeating St Nicholas’ Wen Zhimin 21-7, 21-18. Ellie then partnered Wang Shumiao to make it 1-1 after a 21-14, 21-19 victory over Emily Ho and Isabelle Tan.
But Eva Tan regained the lead for RGS with a comprehensive 21-10, 21-9 victory over Ashley Foo, before St Nicholas’ Ang Kal Syi and Claire Chua made it 2-2 with a 21-12, 21-18 win over Adalia Teo and Chelsea Kho.
In the deciding match, Emma came from behind to beat Faith Koh 16-21, 21-12, 21-12, sparking jubilant cheers from St Nicholas’ players and supporters.
Since picking up badminton in lower primary at Tao Nan School, she and her sister have had a fierce sibling rivalry, which motivated both to perform at their best when representing their school.
“When we are sparring against each other, we both don’t want to lose to each other,” said Ellie, adding that the sister who lost would throw a tantrum.
And while the younger sibling nodded in agreement about how they keep each other on their toes, she was delighted to be on the same winning team as Ellie for the first time.
Emma said: “It’s a really good feeling to win together, because sometimes, if she wins a medal, I’ll get jealous, and if I win a medal, she’ll get jealous, and we’ll want to take each other’s medal. But this time, we both won and we are very happy for each other.”
Emma Ang of CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School in action against Raffles Girls’ School’s Faith Koh in the National School Games C Division girls’ badminton final on Aug 27.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Their dad Ang Kah Tiong, 47, and mum Jeannie Lim, 45, were visibly delighted to watch the siblings win a title together.
Ang said: “They will have rivalry and jealousy, especially when one does well, the other one didn’t do well. They will actually try to push themselves to be better than the other. We are really proud of them for working well together to achieve a common goal.
“When they were younger, we just wanted to expose them to a sport and it turned out that they were pretty good at it. We hope they will continue to have a passion for badminton.”
Sisters Ellie (left) and Emma Ang with their parents.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
In the C Division boys’ final, Raffles Institution (RI) also retained their title with a comprehensive 5-0 win over Anglican High School.
Ultimately, it was the opening match of the tie – the singles clash between RI’s Ng Yu Ze and his opponent Brien Ng – that proved to be the closest battle. Yu Ze dropped the first set 21-17, but fought back with 23-21, 25-23 wins to clinch a nail-biting contest.
Each rally was fiercely contested and the atmosphere grew so tense that both schools’ supporters fell into pin-drop silence at the crucial match points.
Ng Yu Ze of Raffles Institution celebrating after his singles victory against Anglican High School in the National School Games C Division boys’ badminton final on Aug 27.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Yu Ze, who dropped to his knees after his winning point, said he told himself to be calm after losing the first set.
The Year 2 student, 14, added: “I told myself that I have trained very hard for this, so I just need to be more confident so that I can perform.
“When you’re under stress, you have to trust yourself that you can actually perform. So I just kept encouraging myself that I can do it. That’s basically how I managed to overcome the stress and get the win.”
Raffles Institution coach Ronald Susilo (left) delivering instructions to his players.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
RI coach and former national player Ronald Susilo, 46, who has been at the helm since 2015, praised his charges for staying focused and delivering an unblemished 5-0 win.
Susilo said: “The opponents have two good singles players and I expected a close fight, especially in that first singles match. It was a good fight but luckily our first player managed to overcome the pressure and came through. I am proud of all of them for showing a winning mentality.”
