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LUMEN | PROGRAMMES
En garde !
By Oh Wei Jin
Four formidable fencers fought for SJI , and fought hard , they did .
2014 was the inaugural year when SJI sent a team of four young men from the SJI Senior School to participate in the A Division National Inter- Schools Fencing Championships . Two of them achieved podium positions in their respective events .
Oscar Loh ( TG 04 ), Gha Joon Su ( TG 01 ) and Oh Wei Jin ( TG 06 ) participated in the Boys ’ Épeé event , with Oscar Loh emerging champion , while Gha Joon Su and Oh Wei Jin were placed 7th and 16th respectively . Christian James Lim Wei Rong ( TG 07 ) participated in the Boys ’ Foil event and attained 2nd runner-up . The fencers ' impressive performance earned SJI the 4th place ranking in the overall A Division Boys championship .
It was perseverance that earned Oscar his 1st place medal , as in the early part of the final match , Oscar suffered a leg cramp right after scoring a point against his opponent . However , he tenaciously overcame the pain ( thankfully the timely 10-minute break afforded him a chance to recover ) and quickly went back into battle to end the match with a score of 15-13 .
“ I felt great . All the effort I ’ d put in had paid off ,” said Oscar , on his win . He also mentioned that he felt a great sense of achievement and purpose as he had worked hard leading up to the competition .
When asked to comment on his victory , the other medal winner , Christian , intoned , “ I was happy about it because the previous two years I hadn ’ t done well .” His smile certainly spoke volumes regarding his performance this year .
Having only four members in the team was not daunting to the SJI Senior School Fencing team , after all they managed a creditable finish , beating other schools with bigger established teams . Clearly , size doesn ’ t matter . But skills do .
I felt great . All the effort I ’ d put in had paid off .
Oscar Loh
This page ( top ): Oscar ( second from left ) standing tall and proud
This page ( centre ): Christian ( third from left ) delighted with his third placing
This page ( bottom left ): Our fine fencers Wei Jin , Oscar and Joon Su
This page ( right ): Oscar sharing about his win