Sisters to the fore as Nanyang Girls’ High School claim first B Division badminton title
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Sisters Li Zhengyan (front row, left) and Li Zhenghong (second row, left) with their Nanyang Girls’ High School team after winning the B Division badminton final.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Follow topic:
SINGAPORE – Sisters Li Zhengyan and Li Zhenghong started their badminton journey as children, but it has been years since they won something together.
Now 14 and 15 respectively, they finally achieved it on Monday morning at the OCBC Arena, helping Nanyang Girls’ High School clinch their first national B Division badminton title by defeating Dunman High School 5-0 in the final.
After Nanyang’s Michelle Zan beat Estelle Goh 21-8, 21-8 in the opening singles, Zhengyan and her partner Qiu Yuxi built on their lead with a 21-7, 21-12 victory over Glyn She and Sylvia Tea in the first doubles.
Zhenghong did not disappoint either, winning the second singles by defeating Mindy Tan 21-12, 21-11 to secure Nanyang’s title, before their teammates sealed a perfect score by clinching the second doubles and third singles.
This was the first time that the Li sisters were competing together for Nanyang. In 2022, they were with their respective B and C Division teams, both of which won the zonal finals. In 2021, when they were both in the C Division, there were no badminton competitions in the National School Games due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Zhenghong, a Secondary 4 student, said: “I’m very proud of what we have achieved together. We owe it to the support of our coaches and teachers. All of us put in effort together and worked hard during training. So yeah, we all contributed to this achievement together.”
The sisters were introduced to badminton by their father who plays recreationally. Their older brother also played competitvely in the school games until he graduated.
Nanyang Girls’ High School’s Li Zhenghong (left) and her sister Li Zhengyan, with their gold medals on April 17, 2023.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
As sisters, teammates and occasional doubles partners, their bond is unique.
“We’re very close and we don’t argue a lot,” said Secondary 3 student Zhengyan.
“Having a good understanding of each other helps us work together better,” added Zhenghong.
Nanyang captain Yuxi was glad that they were able to win the national competition, which was held for the first time since 2019 due to the pandemic. She said: “It’s a new opportunity. We never got the chance to participate in the national finals. It’s our first time and it’s great that we can have such an achievement.”
Praising his team’s “excellent” execution, Nanyang coach Huang Chao said: “Zhenghong played at a very high level... Zhengyan formed her partnership with Yuxi only recently, but they have built good rapport.”
Despite the defeat, Dunman captain Hayley Yin, 16, was proud of her team “for putting up our best performance and not giving up”.
Another pair of siblings – Hans Yeow and younger brother Josh – also played a part in Raffles Institution’s (RI) 3-2 win in the national B boys’ final against Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) at the OCBC Arena on Monday afternoon.
Hans, 16, said: “It’s a privilege to compete together in finals. Not many siblings get to have this.”
Raffles Institution’s Josh Yeow (left) and Hans Yeow with their gold medals from the National School Games B division boys’ badminton final on April 17, 2023.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
RI had won the first and second singles matches, which sandwiched Josh and Tan Ray Kai’s 21-16, 21-15 defeat by Ace Kastono and Darrius Tang in the first doubles.
Hans and Sheldric Lim then clinched the second doubles 22-20, 21-15 which handed the victory to RI.
“I see myself as his mentor,” Hans joked, when asked to describe his relationship with his sibling. “I do give him advice, but he’s improved a lot recently. He can start giving me advice soon.”
Josh, 15, was only too glad to be able to compete, saying: “I still remember in primary school, our zonal finals were cancelled and our run ended in the semi-finals because of Covid.
“I never got the fulfilment of winning an award since like Primary 5.
“In Secondary 1, I was disappointed too that there were no National School Games.”
In the B boys’ third-place play-off, River Valley High School beat Anglican High School 5-0, while Singapore Chinese Girls’ School won the bronze in the B girls’ competition by pipping Raffles Girls’ School 3-2.
Correction note: An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of the Nanyang Girls’ High School badminton coach. It is Huang Chao, not Hong Chao. We are sorry for the error.
