The SuniG 2011 Overall Champions Title was a closely contested affair between NUS and arch-rivals, NTU as new games were introduced into the fold. But TeamNUS overcame the dividing barriers securing 24 Gold medals (5 more than NTU) and with 13 Championship Gold Medals (outplaying NTU by a single Gold) won the title in 2011. Cricket (M), Cross country (W), Handball (M), Netball (W), Rugby (M), Squash (W), Table Tennis (M), Volleyball (W), Waterpolo (M) and 9-ball Pool (Mix) added a gold medal each to the tally. Team NUS also excelled in sports such as Swimming (M), Tennis (Men and Women) bringing home 2 Gold Medals each. But the greatest chunk of Gold medals came from the Women’s Swimming Team – 7 Gold medals in several styles of swimming. Not only were the Gold medals raining but the tallies of 24 Silver and 21 Bronze medals obtained by TeamNUS meant that they outplayed NTU, SMU and SIM in all the three types of medals! These games showcased the university’s capability of producing record breaking sporting talent.
Speaking about their experiences in the SuniG 2011, here is what the Captains & Managers of the various Sports Teams in NUS had to say:
Cricket (M):
Being a captain and a member for four and half years has been an honor as well as an amazing learning experience. Though winning any tournament is an amazing feeling, defeating arch-rivals NTU at NTU after recovering from a precarious situation is always special. We wanted to desperately win the tournament to pay tributes to our senior players who would be graduating as well as to set the bar for our younger team mates.
Netball (W):
This was the first time Netball was introduced in SuniG and this added to the pressure. We really wanted to win especially since it was hosted by NUS. Indeed, when we won gold, the feeling of satisfaction is beyond what words can describe. Our loss in the previous tournament, IVP, made us desperate for a win in SuniG. We lost to both SIM and NTU in IVP and it was clearly etched in our minds, reminding us time and again to work hard. Thankfully, our efforts paid rich dividends and to beat SIM and NTU to whom we had lost previously was an amazing feeling.
Swimming (W):
As most of us were overseas during the holidays, we trained 3 times a week once the school term began to improve our fitness. The Singapore Masters Swimming Championship was a good preparation event for us. We gave opportunities to our fit freshers and it paid rich dividends. We were motivated by the fact that we were the defending Women’s Champion.
Tennis (W):
We believe our new coach tailored our trainings to meet our needs and we have improved a lot under his tutelage especially in the area of consistency. We had intensive training sessions to get back our fitness as we only had less than a month to prepare for the games. The new players in the team assimilated well as almost all of the players in the team have known each other since their secondary school days through tennis tournaments. We supported each other through the matches. Our respective games have improved as a result of us being a close knit unit.
Volleyball (W):
This championship title didn’t come by easy as quite a few of our veteran players had graduated and many felt that our team was no longer strong enough. Nevertheless, we trained thrice as hard to prove our worth. We gave our best to win the Gold medal and adding to the Gold Tally made us prouder to be a part of Team NUS. The shared goal to defend our running championship title and the unwavering support of our coaches and seniors were great motivators behind our achievement at the SuniG 2011.
Waterpolo (M):
This year’s SuniG was different for us because our team consisted mostly of freshers and year 2 students. Being able to win Gold was due to the combined and continuous effort of my team which is part and parcel of what the Team can do for NUS.