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November 7th and 8th. the day on which the Pol-ITE Archery Championship 2009 was held. Republic Archery IG went out in full force despite the tough competition that they knew was waiting for them.
November 7th, Day 1 of the competition. It started with the Fita-900 Open Category where archers were to shoot at varying distances, namely 60 metres, 50 metres and 40 metres. Our male archers, Bjorn, Elwin, Nigel, Eugene Chiam, Simon and Jeremy, faced tough competition from other institutions but under the guidance and advice from our coach, Florence Ling, they persevered and managed to qualify for the knockout rounds, in both individual and team categories.
Our female archers, Minnie and Wen Xuan, despite being able to
form a team, shot their best and qualified for the individual knockout rounds
with Minnie achieving 2nd place, winning a Silver Medal for her score!
After that came the Standard Category, where archers will
compete at a distance of 30 metres. Archers, Farhan, Khairul, Nicholas and Jia
Wei were shooting in the Standard Male Category while Yi Jing, Zhi Mei and Hui
Ping were competing in the Standard Female Category. It was hard fighting as the
competition was stiff and no institution was backing down. It was all thanks to
our coach and her pre-game pep talk that allowed archers; Farhan, Khairul,
Nicholas, Yi Jing, Zhi Mei and Hui ping to qualify for the knockout rounds, both
team and individual, in their respective categories. Also Yi Jing scored second
in the individual scoring rounds, scoring a Silver Medal!
And lastly, not forgetting the Novice Category, where new
entrants into the competitive world of archery will get their first taste of
competitive archery. Our very own Year 1s went out in full force, all eager to
learn and experience for themselves the excitement that an archery championship
have to offer. Eugene Ho, Nevin, Julian, William, Desmond and Zeus shot in the
Novice Male Category. Melisa, Li Ling, Ruth, Vanessa, Mandy and Christine
competed in the Novice Female Category. Many of them surpassed their own
personal best and have learned many things in the field of competitive archery,
with the help of Florence, our coach.
November 8th, Day 2 of the competition. It was arguably the most
exciting and eventful day throughout the entire championship. It is on this
fateful day that the knockout rounds are held. It started out with the
individual knockout rounds for all categories. For the Fita-900 male category,
Simon, Nigel and Eugene Chiam fought their best trying to score a place in the
finals, however they were bested only by a couple of points during each round.
Despite being “knocked out”, they left the field knowing that they have shot
their best and will strive to score a placing in times to come. Things were
looking up for the Fita-900 Female Category, when Minnie Teo continued to best
archer after archer to reach the semi-finals, despite her fellow archer Wen Xuan
being knocked out during the early stages of competition. She was on the verge
of winning when the tables turned during a sudden change in the weather. She had
no choice but to settle for 4th place.
Farhan, Khairul and Nicholas who qualified for the individual
elimination rounds for the Standard Male Category also faced tough competition.
Khairul, despite being a new archer, shot his best but was bested by archers
who, no doubt had more experience than him. Nicholas and Farhan also shot their
best but were knocked out during the second round of eliminations.
Yi Jing, the only sole survivor of the Standard Female Category,
wasn’t about to give up. She proved that women can have just as much tenacity as
men. She beat archer after archer, with cheers of his team behind her and the
advice that our coach readily doled out. She eventually qualified for the finals
and in a stunning round of scoring, reached 1st place, winning a Gold Medal!
Next up is the Team elimination rounds. Teams, Ben-10(Bjorn,
Elwin and Nigel) and RP-1M(Eugene Chiam, Jeremy and Simon) were scoring for the
Fita-900 Male category. They knew they were up for stiff competition but they
didn’t back down. They shot every arrow as though it was their last. However it
still wasn’t enough. Ben-10 was knocked out during the first round of
eliminations and RP-1M, during the second round of eliminations.
Team RP-2M(Nicholas, Farhan and Khairul) were shooting for the
Standard Male Category. Despite the tense atmosphere and stiff competition, all
they could think about was having fun, much to the surprise of their opponents.
Their opponents were even more surprised when this carefree attitude of Team
RP-2M brought them all the way to the finals, fighting NP for the gold medal,
proving that doom and gloom never prevails. The going was tough but they shot
with everything they got and left it all out on the range. They were beaten by
NP by a mere 9 points and had to settle for a Silver Medal, but they knew that
they had done their best and definitely had more fun than any other team.
Team RP-3F( Yi Jing, Zhi Mei and Hui Ping) faced much
competition during their stint in the Standard Female Category. However, they
proved that they can hold their own against renowned institutions such as NP. They fought to the best of their ability and scored a Bronze Medal for 3rd
place.
Throughout the entire competition, Florence, our coach, was
always there giving us her support and advice. Her timely advice and pre-game
pep talks were definitely an important factor in helping us achieve our full
potential and bringing back 5 medals for Republic Polytechnic. It has definitely
been an enriching experience for all of us and we will definitely strive to
bring the reputation of Republic Archery IG and Republic Polytechnic to great
heights!
In Summary:
Standard Female Individual Knockout- Gold Medal(Yi Jing).
Standard Male Team Category Knockout - Silver Medal (RP-2M).
Standard Female Team Category Knockout- Bronze Medal (RP-3F).
Standard Female Individual Scoring- Silver Medal(Yi Jing).
FITA-900 Female Individual Scoring- Silver Medal(Minnie)
Total: 1 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze.
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