Club Crew World Championships 2010, Macau

went up to Macau for the 7th CCWC, where the strongest dragon boat clubs meet up and compete with each other for the title of World Champions.

SAFSA participated in the U23 category, facing 3 teams from Canada and 1 team each from Macau and Hong Kong. these opponents, though unheard of in Singapore, were no push overs as they tried time and time again to beat SAFSA. successfully, we managed to secure not only podium standings for all events, which are 2000m, 200m and 500m, but 1st placing for everything.

i'm proud to have paddled for SAFSA in the 200m and 500m races. it was an honour to be with such a strong team with such dedicated and passionate paddlers.

the end of CCWC marks my first 2 Golds with SAFSA.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

SDBF 2010

my very first race for SAFSA. high expectations, rather high confidence.

our greatest nemesis were Mountbatten. we knew it would be a tough fight. but we thought we could retain the title. despite the effort, desire, we failed to secure a Gold, and had to settle for Silver.

are we really lesser than them? does having that many Nteam paddlers make a difference? why is it a club team overseas beat intimidating, results producing national teams then? we were good, but they were better.

this feeling sucks. i'll remember it, take it, and shove it up my next opponent's ass.

I will not settle for a Silver. the next SDBF, WATCH OUT.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

FTs winning: to be proud, or not to be.

Now, recently the Singapore Table Tennis team beat China to win some World Championships. This has caused a spark among S'poreans because the people who won are 'imports' from China.

The problems many locals are having about this win is that at the end of the day, it's still China vs China.

Feng Tianwei, who made a surprising comeback to take the game right under the nose of China's World number 4, despite being raised here in the Lion City, is still not recognised by many S'poreans as a local.

Yes, I agree Singapore has brought in countless Foreign Talents(FTs) into the sporting scene and most of the trophies gotten from major competitions in recent years were from the FTs. But has it ever occured to S'poreans that it is due to their incompetence that the FTs are representing the Nation instead of locals? I'm not saying that local athletes are useless. In fact, every athlete from every corner of the world has the ability to surpass world champions.

Perhaps some S'poreans are worried that the team selection was biased, and that the once Chinese Nationals were selected due to their nationality. I do not work in or for the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA), thus I cannot comment on that. But if STTA is able to come out and share how athletes are chosen, then at least one worry is striked out.

In my opinion, coaches will only send the best players of a team to compete. Thus, if the local Table Tennis players can outskill the abilities of the FTs, then they would be the ones representing the Nation.

Doing a general comparison, the FTs train harder and are more determined to improve. Simply said, they've got a higher work rate. This is shown not only in sports, but also in classrooms, as some would realise. The attitude that the FTs are showing is something local athletes should look to possess. Perhaps some already do, but just do not have the talent to outshine the FTs.

Local athletes should use 'imported' players as sparring partners and look to beat them, part of Singapore Sports Council's purpose of coming up with the Foreign Talent Scheme. The citizens of the Republic should stop complaining about how FTs are taking over in all aspects. They must know that world is cruel, and so is reality. If you're the weaker link, then you will get taken off the charts and someone stronger will take over.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

RPDB

i just finished my final race with RPDB on Sunday. MR 500 was really a blast. i was really disappointed that we didn't beat NTU for the Tertiary gold on Saturday(my very last chance to do so). but on Sunday, we managed to clinch third position for the Men's Open Grand Final, beating all other teams except the National Team and, yes, NTU. though we still lost to NTU, by an even closer margin than the day before, i was really contented because everyone achieved the team's common goal and put up a really good fight.

i would like to thank the team for the excellent ride on the boat for the Men's Grand Final and also for all their efforts in making the results possible. without each and everyone of you, none of that could have happened. continue to train hard, because the longer you stay in 'hell', the faster you'll reach 'heaven' to reap the benefits.

i also hereby express my gratitude to JD for his guidance to the team. a soft-spoken and humble coach that has brought the team to even greater heights, continuing the legacy Steve and himself created for the team since the start of RPDB.

i wish the team all the best. in future, we won't be teammates, but opponents. i still want to see the team rise, but i guarantee you, i will train even harder from now to beat you guys if we ever meet on the race course. no hard feelings though. =]





i leave you all with a few quotes that may help in motivating yourselves to train harder:

"success comes only if there's HARDWORK and SHEER DETERMINATION"

"one's attitude determines two possible results, SUCCESS or FAILURE"

"you CONSERVE, you LOSE"

Fatigue

i'm feeling the effects of burnout, as a result of overtraining i guess.

recently, i made the decision, along with Christo, to paddle for RP and SAFSA; Louis paddling for SAFSA only. both teams are training on weekends, RP in the morning, SAFSA in the noon. and because both sides are starting to pick up the training volume and intensity, i'm getting more fatigued.

i'm just really worried that i won't be able to pull through this. but i really don't want to let go of either team. for now, i just got to keep finding motivations to keep me going.

it's POL-ITE and SDBF glory i'm looking for, and i will push hard enough to get them.

June

2nd time bringing the trophy back.


many months of training, 4 competitions, 4 medals for myself, all in the month of June.

in the last 2 weekends, the whole team managed to grab a whole bunch of medals. for myself, i got 1 silver from SIWF, 1 gold from POL-ITE 2009, 1 silver for the Tertiary Mixed team and 1 bronze for the National Championship Men's, both from SDBF.

SIWF was my first and last with RP. the silver medal was in fact a gold and we know damn well why.

POL-ITE 2009 was my final one, and i'm glad i could defend the title with my team. it was RPDB's third consecutive win in the POL-ITE games since snatching it from TP. i paddled in 2 of the 3 POL-ITE races.

for SDBF, we swept the POL-ITE category races in Men's, Women's and Mixed last year. unfortunately, SDBA took that category off this year; in fact, 2008 was the only year the POL-ITE category was featured. but in 2009, RPDB made history. the bronze medal from the National Championship Men's was the first, since we started in 2005. that was the best bronze medal i've ever gotten in my life. in that event itself, it was also one of the best ever. the Tertiary Mixed silver medal was one of my very few Mixed team medals, and i'm glad to have paddled.

all the 3 competitions mentioned above are all my last with RPDB. the feeling in those competitions were great; almost replicable to SRR 2008. thanks to everyone who made it possible; my coach, my teammates, GOD.

Prick?

Singapore International Water Festival

we, RPDB, went for our most recent competition just yesterday at Marina Barrage. it was the Singapore International Water Festival, jointly organised by Singapore Polytechnic and PUB, and we competed in the Inter-POL-ITE Dragon Boat race.

due to delays in earlier races, we were rushed at the starting point to align our boats. the officials were impatient, they didn't want to delay further and they just started the race without bothering whether the boats were aligned or not. our boat, particularly, started off veering towards lane 6; we were in lane 5. that probably took away 2-3seconds, or more, from our race.

despite that, our coxwain was able to steer us back into our lane quickly enough and we won the set/ heat, beating SP by only 1sec, clocking 2:28min.

NP won by a clear margin amongst the other teams in their set/ heat, clocking a 2:27min to win the Inter-POL-ITE Men's category. we got 2nd and SP got 3rd.

our girls did really well, capturing Gold for the Inter-POL-ITE Women's category.

oh yes, i'm proud of my juniors. despite their resut, i want to applaud them for their efforts. they seemed calm and compose throughout most of their race. a good job to you guys and please remember what i said to you. continue working hard!

as a preview to the POL-ITE games, coming up on Friday (26/06/2009), we now know where we stand. i'm looking forward to compete side by side with the other Polytechnic and ITE teams, and vie for the Championship. pressure's on us, but we'll not succumb to it.

Sexy Golf

i would love to be THAT instructor. *2 thumbs up!*

Kobe Bryant

i hate to say this, but this man, #24 of the LA Lakers, is one of the best players the NBA has ever had. he shoots from anywhere, even with a hand, or a thousand hands in his face. he doesn't even need to look at the basket to shoot, Kobe's got the shooting feel/ touch everywhere.

i'm no Lakers fan, no Kobe fan, but i have to say, Bryant is looking like the legendary #23 of Chicago Bulls.

Glitz 2009

right, so we didn't clinch the Team of the Year award for the 3rd consecutive year, but we were nominees for the past 3 years. when the results were announced, i thought i was dreaming, and definitely hoped it was a dream. but the Floorball male team took it from us. say all you want whether the results were biased or not, the winners are the team whose adviser is the Deputy Head of OSG and there is nothing we can do, but to fight for it again, starting from now.

i won't say that the Floorball team are well deserved winners, because i don't know about their attendance and discipline matters, though they have made an excellent season winning gold in the IVP and POL-ITE games. but you know, i don't think RPDB deserve the title, if we were to look into discipline and attendance.

yes we've made a heck load of history throughout our previous season. we made history in SRR 2008, winning 4 golds. we made history by winning POL-ITE 2 years in a row. we clinched gold for all the POL-ITE category events at SDBF 2008. but apparently, in OSG's eyes, it's not enough for us to win the Team of the Year.

really looked forward to winning the Team of the Year for the 3rd time to complete a 3-peat, but it didn't happen. i applaud RP's Floorball team for clinching the award, and trust me, we'll be back to take it back next year. may the best team win.

on a brighter note, i got a Certificate of Merit, only 2 Dragon Boaters got it this year, Rone and myself. Christo got Meritorious Silver along with Shawn and Hakin. Alvin got the Sports Development Grant, which Christo has too - that's 2 for the vice-capt. Hakin was also awarded Female Captain of the year.

Damien Walters, Olympic gymnast

this, ladies and gentlemen, is cool.

FA Cup Semi-finals: Everton vs Manchester United

in case you guys didn't know, Manchester United was knocked out of the FA Cup by Everton on Monday morning.

Sir Alex Ferguson took a gamble by putting most of his youngsters into the starting 11 for the Semi-finals clash. players like Welback, Gibson, twins Rafael and Fabio, and overnight superstar "Kiko" Macheda started for Manchester United. David Moyes, however, took no chances for his Everton side, and played his usual line-up.

Sir Alex's gamble was a price to pay as they were beaten 2-4 on penalties by Everton, with Tim Howard saving 2 shots from his former team.

after 120minutes of official play time and extra time, a goal-less draw took the clubs into penalties. Sir Alex chose experience, than position, as his penalty kickers starrs Berbatov, Ferdinand, Vidic and Anderson as the first 4. that decision, understandable because the veterans would be more calm and focused in situations like these rather than the youngsters, was also one of the deciding factors for the winners. Berbatov and Ferdinand both had their shot saved by former team mate, Howard.

after the match, Berbatov was heavily criticised by spectators around the world for his "tamed" kick. many said the shot was too "gentle", and expected a striker of that standards to be much better. his boss has however backed him up. reports here.

personal:
i feel that Sir Alex's move to put his youngsters in such an important match was controversial but important move. by doing so, they have gained much experience by playing a Premier League club of high standards. this is a boost for the club, as they may need to look for players to replace older players such as Scholes, Giggs and Neville. it's a short term, though "expensive" sacrifice but a long term investment.

i don't agree, though, to the selection of penalty kickers. Sir Alex should have continued using his youngsters for the penalties. i felt that the strikers and midfielders should have been the first 5, despite being inexperienced.

overall, the starting 11 of United proved to be able to withstand Everton's first team, which is a good sight for the the future of the current World Champions.

Craving for basketball

anyone wants to play a full court Basketball match in April, after my Dragon Boat competition? i'm seriously craving for it and am eager for a game.

have to resist temptation until 2 weeks later!

Bowling

few of us dragon boaters went to Marina Square to play bowling earlier today. i got a 67 on my first game, which had me 4th of the 7 people who played. and in the second game, i came up tops, with 120pts. not the best of my games, but at least i redeemed myself after the first game.

anyway, Rone and Christo had to do 50push-ups each because they were last in each games.

bowling's fun, especially when you haven't played it for years! i'm definitely going to play again before school reopens.


Rone & Christo; push-ups @ Marina Square SuperBowl.

120pts.