(St. Stephen’s School Boys Win at the National School Games. Photo credit: Pearlyn Koh)

By Pearlyn Koh

Emotions ran high on Wednesday (27 April) at the Bukit Gombak ActiveSG Stadium, as the final day of the 2022 National School Games (NSG) Track and Field Championships commenced. 

All eyes were on the track as the final event of the Championships - the 4 x 100m Relay (Senior 1 Boys) took place. After a closely contested race, it was St. Stephen’s School that won the event with a fantastic time of 56.42, edging out their Nan Hua Primary School opponents (56.48) to clinch the Gold.

(For all the news, post-match interview videos, stories, photos, fanzone details and much more from the 2022 National School Games, do visit our website : go.gov.sg/nationalschoolgames)

(St. Stephen’s School Boys Team. Photo credit: Pearlyn Koh)

The St. Stephen’s School quartet, consisting of Daryl Emmanuel Sim Jun Wei, Muhammad Reza Bin Zool Ihsan, Soriano Ildefonso III Cervantes and Aidan Dinesh Lechuga, stuck well to their race plan from the beginning till end. Crediting their win to their excellent teamwork and perseverance, the boys were satisfied with their performance and elated on their win. 

“I felt we did very well in the race because we persevered, and we also did especially well in passing the baton smoothly,” said 12-year-old Muhammad Reza Bin Zool Ihsan, who was also the winner of the High Jump (Senior 1 Boys) event. 

(Interview with St. Stephen’s School Boys Team. Video Credit: Pearlyn Koh) 

Victory was extra sweet for the St. Stephen’s School boys as they also won the overall 2nd place in the Senior Boys Division at this year’s Track and Field Championships, falling just 1 point short to St. Joseph’s Institution (Junior).  

Over in the 4 x 100m Relay (Senior 2 Girls) event, Mayflower Primary School clinched the Silver medal, clocking 01:15.05. Being the first designated mainstream primary school in Singapore for students with Hearing Loss (HL) who sign, this victory was even more memorable.

(Photo of Mayflower SR2 Girls Team. Photo credit: Pearlyn Koh)

This was 13-year-old Raja Nur Qiyarah Binte Mohd Basrah’s first NSG outing after a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19. Even though Qiyarah is hearing impaired, that does not stop her from running - and winning. 

To Qiyarah, the support and encouragement received from her school and teammates have motivated and encouraged her to go further. “When there is something I need to ask my coach about, I will ask my interpreter to help me. But if my interpreter is not around, I will usually write it down. My teammates have also been very encouraging, patient and supportive.”

(Post-race Interview with Mayflower Primary's, Raja Nur Qiyarah.  Video Credit : Pearlyn Koh)

(For all the news, post-match interview videos, stories, photos, fanzone details and much more from the 2022 National School Games, do visit our website : go.gov.sg/nationalschoolgames)