St Nicholas Girls’ School dominate schools’ artistic gymnastics competitions
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CHIJ St Nicholas Girl's School (Secondary) student Danielle Fong executing her routine in the vault final of the National School Games' artistic gymnastics competition.
ST PHOTO: EUGENE TAN
Lin Tianbao
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SINGAPORE – CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School (Secondary) emerged triumphant in the B and C divisions of the National School Games’ artistic gymnastics competition, after a dominant display at the four-day meet at Bishan Sports Hall.
One of the biggest winners was Danielle Fong, 14, who capped off an impressive individual season.
She clinched two golds in the B Division optional individual apparatus finals, namely the balance beam and floor exercise, on Friday, the final day of competition.
She had earlier claimed the all-around gold on Thursday, with 33.666 points, ahead of schoolmates Gwyneth Ang (32.333 points) and Alexis Chan (32.066 points).
The Secondary 3 student, who is part of the national squad, said: “This win was really unexpected. I was quite nervous and was only expecting to place first for vault, which is my strongest event.”
Danielle, who finished second in the vault, is no stranger to the NSG competition, having also been second in the C Division optional all-around event in 2022.
On the transition to the B Division, she said: “The energy is a lot higher… and we have the C Division (team) coming down to support.”
The atmosphere was lively as supporters came to cheer on their schools, with chants of “jiayou” (keep going in Chinese) ringing across the sports hall.
Her schoolmate Hannah Lim walked away with the all-around title in the C Division novice competition, together with an individual gold in the balance beam.
She had finished second in the all-around in 2022, and was satisfied with finally getting her hands on a title.
“I had worked really hard since last year,” she said.
“This year, it was a bit more nerve-racking as I am older and there are more participants from the national team.”
Hannah, who trains with the National Training Centre, did not expect to claim the all-around title. She said: “I was targeting at least a top three.”
Another gymnast who exceeded her own expectations was NSG debutante Adele Tan, 13, who won an individual gold in the C Division novice vault.
Adele, who is also from St Nicholas, was eyeing a medal for an individual event. She said: “I am very happy about (the win). I did everything my coach told me, and actually did quite well.”
Meanwhile, National Junior College student Samantha Loh retained her title in the B Division optional individual vault.
“I felt really relieved,” she said. “I had gone through several injuries this year, so I am pretty satisfied with this result.”
