Top athletes' journeys showcased through special SG60 book series
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
Meet the proud 'yo-yo boy' whose childhood hobby is taking him to Europe to represent Singapore
To his classmates at university, Xavier Ng seems like any other first-year student, juggling a business degree with freelance marketing gigs on the side. But when the school holidays came around in May 2025 and other students went on vacation, the 22-year-old headed to Australia and spent eight weeks holed up in a house with his childhood companion: The yo-yo. "We would start at 10am in the morning and end at 6pm or 7pm at night. We just stay in this cold training room, practising and eating lunch in the same spot every day,' said Ng. As Singapore's four-time national yo-yo champion, he trained alongside two other national champions from Down Under. They are all sponsored by Australian company Offset Yoyo to compete at the World Yo-yo Contest, which will be held in Prague from Aug 7 to 10. 'My goal is to win the 2025 World Yo-yo Contest, and bring pride to Singapore through a sport that has never been in the spotlight here.' NOT JUST FUN AND GAMES It all began with a yo-yo he saw on TV. At 12 years old, Ng was living in Shanghai when he became hooked on a Chinese anime series called Blazing Teens. His first yo-yo came from the show's merchandise, and would keep him occupied for hours each day. 'It's just fun because there's an endless number of things you can do with it. When you do a trick and your friends are impressed, you feel cool. When you learn a new one, you feel a sense of achievement.' What began as play soon grew into a full-fledged hobby. Encouraged by his teachers, Ng joined a school talent show in Shanghai and clinched a cash prize of S$200 – money he spent on more advanced yo-yos that would allow him to perform more complex tricks. As Ng entered his teenage years, however, he began to feel conflicted about the nickname 'yo-yo boy'. 'It sort of gave me an edge in terms of 'status' in school, but it was also a bit embarrassing because it's a toy. And sometimes, as a kid, you want to feel mature" Everything changed when Ng returned to Singapore at 17 and discovered the local yo-yo community. After years of practising alone with YouTube tutorials in his bedroom, he suddenly found himself spending weekends at the now-defunct Spinworkx store in 313@Somerset, swapping tricks and techniques with other like-minded players. In 2017, he finally felt confident enough to enter his first contest: The Asia Pacific Yo-yo Championships held in Singapore. He finished near the bottom, but the experience lit a fire in him. By 2019, that spark led him to defeat a former world champion and clinch his very first national title. 'It felt really exhilarating and I was just very proud, because they are people that I've looked up to.' FROM CHILDHOOD BEDROOM TO WORLD STAGE With the World Championships on the horizon, Ng is pushing himself harder than ever to bring his yo-yo game to the global stage. Preparation starts with stringing tricks together. Most players borrow moves from a "trick library" and put their own spin on them, but at the professional level, they begin creating original tricks like Ng's signature X-recapture and Excalibur. Next comes choreography: Matching tricks to music and fine-tuning the track itself so that every spin, whip and bind lands right on the beat. 'I like to use Dubstep and trap music, basically remixes of electronic songs. Because there are many beats I can match my moves to for an impactful performance.' And then there's the most intense phase: Practise. For three straight months before the world championships, Ng trains every day. "It's not that fun," he admits, since he's not working on anything new – just the same moves on repeat – but he knows that's the only way to nail it on competition day. To most people, yo-yoing hardly looks like a sport. In Ng's hands, it even looks easy. But stamina plays a huge role, especially for a player known for his body tricks. 'Once you hit a certain level and you're doing tricks all around your body, you're turning left, right and centre doing 180s and 360s. You sweat a lot, you start to ache, and you might even start to cramp a bit.' Sleep and diet matter, too. A good night's rest is critical to focus, and a little melatonin goes a long way when sleep is elusive. On competition day, Ng eats just enough to avoid gastric pains, but never so much that he risks a food coma. This month, Ng will be competing in the 1A division, the most common but most competitive of them all. 'It's like freestyle swimming: Everyone can do it, but it's really hard to be good at it.' Participants are judged on how complex their routine is, how well they control the yo-yo, and how cleanly they perform their moves. And while everything may go smoothly during practise, nerves on competition day can easily throw things off. 'If you don't control your anxiety, you will encounter mistakes and start to spiral. To recover from that, you rush and end up making even more mistakes.' But this isn't Ng's first rodeo, and he has learned how to keep his nerves in check. In the hours before his turn, Ng avoids watching other performances and stays outside the venue. When he takes the stage, he closes his eyes, takes a long, deep breath, and tells himself: 'You've done this so many times. Let's do it again.' During showtime, the words of wisdom from a former national champion ring in his head: 'When you're doing a routine, tell yourself to go slow in your head. You'll physically slow down as well, which is important because we tend to rush on stage from all the adrenaline.' THE END OF AN ERA The upcoming competition may well be one of his last. While Ng plans to continue helping out at yo-yo events, he expects to step away from playing competitively once he enters the workforce. 'Like every generation of competitive sport, it's hard to catch up to new players. And all these kids will have so much free time compared to me when I enter the workforce.' Looking back, he's grateful for the way yo-yoing has shaped his formative years and believes it has kept him away from the troubles of teenhood. 'Friends have asked if I want to try vaping or smoking, but no, I'm good. I don't need to fit in by doing those things. I just need my yo-yo.' Today, he uses his own experience to reassure parents whose children want to take up yo-yo lessons with him, calling it a hobby that gets kids off their screens and helps them socialise in real life. Some of the friends Ng met through the yo-yo community remain among his closest to this day. From friendships to hand-eye coordination and discipline, yoyo-ing has given Ng many things over the past decade. But its greatest gift has been the conviction to do what he loves, even when it isn't popular. 'It may be perceived as 'childish', but it's something I'm proud of. It's a skill I've worked very hard for. So if people call me yo-yo boy, I'll be like, yeah that's me.'
CNA
4 hours ago
- CNA
Once a world champion sailor, Singapore's Cecilia Low aims to start afresh at the SEA Games
Low found the suggestion "interesting", but it was only after being introduced to a former coach of Maeder's that she started trying out kitefoiling in earnest. Less than a year later, Low could be the latest kitefoiler to represent Singapore, after the Singapore Sailing Federation nominated her for SEA Games selection. Thailand will host the biennial event in December, with events held across Bangkok, Chonburi and Songkhla. "AN EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER" Low started sailing at the age of just eight, when her parents signed her and her sister up for lessons. She went on to become one of Singapore's most successful athletes. In 2010, Low combined with Rachel Lee to win Asian Games gold in the women's 420 class - a two-person sailing dinghy - and they followed up with a triumph at the 2012 World 420 Championships. After Lee retired, Low teamed up with her sister Priscilla to win 2013 SEA Games gold in the 470 class, a more technical and challenging boat. The sisters then took silver in the 29er, another sailboat class, in the following year's Asiad. Low next joined forces with Kimberly Lim in 2015, and won gold three years in the 49er FX - a larger, faster skiff - at the 2018 Asian Games. Competing in the same class, the duo made history for their country three years later as the first Singaporean sailors to qualify for a medal race at the Olympics, eventually finishing 10th overall in Tokyo. Low and Lim then clinched a bronze at the 2023 Asian Games, but later missed out on a potential second Olympics in 2024 as they grappled with equipment changes in their class. "There were expectations going forward, but they changed everything and it was very demoralising, like an emotional rollercoaster," Low recalled. The plan was never to gun for more than two Olympic campaigns, and so this marked the end of their journey. "I was very tired. And I needed a breather," said Low. EMBRACING NEW CHALLENGES Picking up kitefoiling - mere months later - was not without its challenges, even for a seasoned sailor like her. For one, there is less sense of security being on the hydrofoil, a wing-like structure that lifts the rider above the water's surface, compared with being on a boat. "You end up in the water more ... It was a bit scary because I didn't know how to control anything; I didn't know what to expect," said Low, recalling the first time she tried the sport in December last year. Days later, she accidentally stepped on a sharp edge of the hydrofoil, slicing her toe open. She needed six stitches. "It's part and parcel (of things)," Low said. "I kind of wasted half a week." She has since grown to enjoy kitefoiling. "It's quite exciting, to be honest. When I stopped falling into the water, it got more fun," said Low. "The feeling is totally new." Earlier this year, Low also graduated with an aeronautics degree, after completing an internship with professional consultancy firm Deloitte. She enjoyed the work but there were some things which took getting used to - in particular spending much of her time staring at screens. "The first week, I went home with a headache," she recalled. "(Work) was actually quite nice. The team I was in, they were very supportive, and they were teaching me a lot of things." While Low was eventually offered a temporary role, she decided to focus fully on kitefoiling. "I always put a goal (to what I want to do). This year, there's the SEA Games. So why not? If I can make it, I will be there," she said. But this was a decision also made after much thought. "I had a few considerations. One was that I'm not very young," she said. "There's not much time, you can't do this until you're 40 or 50 ... I would have to go up against people who have been kiting for more than 10 years." Her parents were supportive of her, as always. "I talked to a lot of people about it, because I didn't really know what to do ... I had a lot of people encourage me to try it out. "If everybody has so much faith in me - then maybe I'll try it out and see how it goes." Has it been worth it, however, putting herself through the rigour of high-performance sport all over again? Low said it was about embracing new challenges. "I got bored of the same boat that I've seen sailing for nine years, and I was given the opportunity to try something new." There was also the bonus of having the Maeders ' help as she embarked on this new pursuit. "Without them, I would probably not even try out the sport," she said. "It's not an easy sport to pick up." Her extensive sailing background has also admittedly equipped her with transferrable skills, such as how to approach a particular course and the perhaps intangible "feel" of - and for - the water. Low is now a firm proponent of fellow sailors trying out kitefoiling. "I would actually just tell them to give it a go. You never know which class (of sailing) you're going to be good at," she said. Low, who has been training overseas this year, has not set a target for herself if she makes it to the SEA Games.
CNA
11 hours ago
- CNA
Top athletes' journeys showcased through special SG60 book series
A six-book collection of top local sports athletes is commemorating Singapore's 60th year of independence. It aims to inspire more to dream big and pursue their sporting dreams. Nadine Yeam with this report.
