13 athletes win spexScholarship at second try

Story by Colin Tung/Red Sports. Photos by Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports

Singapore Sports Excellence Scholarship Award Presentation Ceremony

National canoeist Brandon Ooi, who is currently completing full-time national service, is one of 18 new spexScholars. He failed in his spexScholarship application for the inaugural batch last year but succeeded this year after encouraging results at the SEA Games in Myanmar last December and the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, this year. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)

Black Box Auditorium, Singapore Sports Hub, Tuesday, December 2, 2014 — While the likes of Feng Tian Wei (Olympic, Commonwealth, and Asian Games medallist), Jasmine Ser (Commonwealth and Asian Games medallist), Jazreel Tan (Asian Games medallist), and Joseph Schooling (Commonwealth and Asian Games medallist) were amongst 61 national athletes who were successful in their first application for the Sports Excellence Scholarships (spexScholarships) last year, there were some who were rejected.

But as athletes are wont to do when faced with disappointment, they return and try again; 13 of the second batch of 18 new spexScholarship recipients this year had applied and failed last year. The remaining five — Mervyn Toh, Nadine Joy Nathan, Nur Marina Chan, Rachel Tseng, and Yip Pin Xiu — were first-time applicants.

Canoeist Brandon Ooi was one of the 13 who managed to get in through the door on the second attempt. He said, “It’s great. We (Brandon and his fellow male canoeists) actually applied for it last year but we didn’t manage to get it because maybe they (the selectors) wanted to see how we dealt in the following competitions. But we persevered.”

Brandon’s perseverance saw him finish 8th and 9th in the K2 1000m and K4 1000m events respectively at the Asian Games this year, with a 24th-place finish in the K1 500m at the World Championships as well.

“I thought we did decently for the Asian Games and the previous SEA (Southeast Asian) Games and … with these results I didn’t think that there’ll be anything stopping us from getting this award. All of us are planning to stay in this for the next five years probably, for the next Olympics, and maybe the one after that,” said the 20-year-old.

When asked how the spexScholarship will help him, the three-time SEA Games bronze medallist said, “From March (next year, after he finishes his full-time National Service) to the late part of the year, I will be completely free and, basically, I don’t have to take up a job so that I can fund my transport and this kind of things so I can just focus on my training, which is about twice a day every day, 12 times a week.” Brandon was previously on The Final Push, a one-year support scheme to help carded national athletes who are non-spexScholars prepare for the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore.

Another athlete who found success at the second time of application was paddler Isabelle Li. With six other paddlers — Feng, Yu Meng Yu, Gao Ning, Yang Zi, Zhan Jian, and Li Hu — already on the spexScholarship, Isabelle’s and fellow paddler Lin Ye’s additions made it eight for the table tennis team. Table tennis has the second joint-highest number of spexScholars going into 2015 alongside bowling and sailing. Isabelle is the only Singapore-born paddler.

The Republic Polytechnic Sports and Leisure Management graduate, who has a place at Yale-NUS College to study liberal arts, said, “[M]issing out on it (last year) didn’t stop me from continuing to give my best because, ultimately, I’m fuelled by my passion for table tennis. I didn’t specifically think about my chances this year but getting this is definitely a huge encouragement for me.

“It gives me a peace of mind to go all out and train full-time, not be worried about my studies and, also, there will be high-performance support in terms of biomechanics, physiology, even sports medicine.”

Applications for the second batch of spexScholarships this year began with 160 nominations from 21 sports. It was whittled down to 41 athletes from 14 sports, and the 18 successful applicants emerged after interviews with a panel. The High Performance Sports (HPS) Selection and Performance Sub-Committee and HPS Steering Committee then respectively reviewed and confirmed the athletes.

Head of High Performance Sports at Sport Singapore, Richard Gordon, said, “The first year is about bringing people onboard. The second year and beyond is about managing the spexScholars and making sure that we’re moving forward.”

He highlighted Joseph Schooling’s performances this year in the pool as an example of a spexScholar who has surpassed expectations, resulting in a promotion of the athlete’s classification in the HPS pathway. He said, “Joseph has gone up to level one (top eight at World and Olympic level). He’s at the mark where he has a more than realistic chance of final-ing. In fact, within reaching distance of medals. And that’s very significant.”

Results are not the only consideration, however, Gordon said. “We’re also looking for athletes who will be positive role models for Singapore. Ultimately what we’re searching for are people who can be athletic heroes for Singapore, not just in terms of results but in the way in which they conduct themselves and in which they give back to sport in Singapore.

“We think we will have a lot tougher time when we open up the doors for the third year of the spexScholarship next year because we think there will be some fabulous performances from the SEA Games that will be genuinely world-class and there will be many people knocking on the door, saying, ‘Hey, we want to get in. We think we are deserving of the spexScholarship.'”

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong was the guest-of-honour at the awards presentation ceremony. He cautioned spexScholars not to rest on their laurels while, at the same time, encouraged non-spexScholar athletes to work harder. He said in a speech, “A third and important principle is the spexScholarship is really a mutual commitment, between society and our athletes, because the scholarships are funded by public funds; they are public monies.

“So, when we give a scholarship, we are saying that we, as a society, value sport, want to set aside public funds and are prepared to make a commitment and an investment in our athletes … I think it’s an important statement of values and priorities. But, at the same time, we want our athletes to make a commitment too. And they have to be committed to train hard, to meet their performance goals and targets and, hopefully through their performance in sports, rally and inspire our nation.

“So, on that basis, we continuously evaluate our athletes. Those who are on spexScholarships now are not guaranteed spexScholarships forever. If they do not meet their training commitments, there is a chance that the spexScholarship may be revised or … terminated. Conversely, if you are not on a spexScholarship, but if you train hard, you do well and you excel, you may very well apply and get funded and get more support for your training goals.”

2014 spexScholars

Badminton
1. Yeo Jia Min

Bowling
2. Joey Yeo Ruoqi

Canoeing
3. Lucas Teo Guang Yi
4. Mervyn Toh Yingjie
5. Muhammad Syaheenul Aiman Bin Nasiman
6. Brandon Ooi Wei Cheng

Cycling
7. Dinah Chan Siew Kheng

Disability Sports
8. Tay Wei Ming (Badminton)
9. Theresa Goh (Swimming)
10. Yip Pin Xiu (Swimming)

Gymnastics
11. Nadine Joy Nathan

Sailing
12. Cecilia Low
13. Sara Tan
14. Griselda Khng

Swimming
15. Rachel Marjorie Tseng Wei Wen
16. Nur Marina Chan Shin Min Alif Abdullah

Table Tennis
17. Isabelle Li Si Yun
18. Lin Ye

2013 spexScholars

Badminton
1. Danny Bawa Chrisnanta
2. Vanessa Neo Yu Yan
3. Liang Xiaoyu

Bowling
4. Jazreel Tan Shi Hua
5. Shayna Ng Lin Zhi
6. Cherie Tan Shi Hua
7. Daphne Tan Shi Jing
8. Bernice Lim Hui Ying
9. Muhammad Jaris Goh Bin Ali Akbar Goh
10. New Hui Fen

Canoeing
11. Geraldine Lee Wei Ling
12. Suzanne Seah
13. Sarah Chen Jiemei
14. Stephenie Chen Jiexian
15. Annabelle Ng Xiang Ru

Cuesports
16. Peter Edward Gilchrist

Disability Sports
17. Laurentia Tan Yen-Yi
18. Nurulasyiqah Binte Mohammad Taha
19. Mohamed Ismail Bin Hussain
20. Maximillian Tan Chern
21. Gemma Rose Foo Jen
22. Thomas Yong Phen Chong
23. Toh Sze Ning

Fencing
24. Ann Lee Huimin
25. Cheryl Wong Ye Han
26. Joshua Lim Ian
27. Lim Wei Wen
28. Willie Khoo Zile (scholarship term ends on 31 Dec 2014)
29. Liane Wong Ye Ying (scholarship renewed)

Golf
30. Jonathan Woo Ke-Jun

Gymnastics
31. Joey Tam Jing Ying (scholarship renewed but declined due to athlete’s retirement from sport)
32. Nicolette Lim Shu Min (scholarship term ends on 31 Dec 2014)
33. Charmaine Yeo Yan (scholarship term ends on 31 Dec 2014)
34. Zeng Qiyan (scholarship term ends on 31 Dec 2014)
35. Ashly Lau Wei-Ning (scholarship renewed)
36. Janessa Dai Min Yi (scholarship renewed)
37. Michelle Teo Yin Zhi (scholarship term ends on 31 Dec 2014)

Sailing
38. Colin Cheng Xinru
39. Elizabeth Yin Yueling
40. Scott Glen Sydney
41. Kimberly Lim Min (scholarship renewed)
42. Savannah Siew Kiah Hui (scholarship term ends on 31 Dec 2014)
43. Ryan Lo Jun Han (scholarship renewed)

Shooting
44. Jasmine Ser
45. Lim Yee Xien (scholarship term ends on 31 Dec 2014)
46. Yang Shuet Hwei (scholarship renewed)

Silat
47. Muhammad Shakir Bin Juanda
48. Muhammad Iqbal Bin Abdul Rahman
49. Muhammad Nur Alfian Bin Juma’en

Swimming
50. Joseph Schooling
51. Tao Li
52. Amanda Lim Xiang Qi
53. Danny Yeo Kai Quan
54. Samantha Louisa Yeo Ginn

Table Tennis
55. Feng Tian Wei
56. Yu Meng Yu
57. Gao Ning
58. Yang Zi
59. Zhan Jian
60. Li Hu

Waterski
61. Sasha Siew Hoon Christian

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