Athletes returning from exchange gear up for IVP games

By Fiona Mei Robinson

The annual Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Games see students from 12 local tertiary institutions compete in various sports. While NTU’s teams have been training throughout the previous semester, some student athletes had less than ideal preparations before the Games, which started on 7 Jan and will end on 26 Jan.

We speak to two athletes who only had less than a month to prepare after returning from their overseas exchange programmes.

Shaking off the rust

PHOTO: ZHENG JUNCEN

The IVP Games will be a major shift in gear for table tennis player Caselyn Wong, who was on exchange at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia, last semester.

Wong, 23, did not join the school table tennis team in UNSW as members were required to pay for trainings and to join competitions. As she could not commit herself fully to the team there, she decided to stick to non-competitive games.

“Even though I was able to play table tennis (in Sydney), I played more for leisure, or to coach my friends who had no table tennis background,” said the final-year student from the Nanyang Business School.

“Training for competition and playing leisurely is totally different, as I get to be more laid back when playing with friends.”

Wong is no stranger to the Games, having competed in them since her first year of study. She is also currently the vice-captain of the IVP team.

The NTU women’s table tennis team has consistently performed well in the IVP Games, clinching the championship two years ago, and finishing as runner-up behind National University of Singapore (NUS) last year.

While her NTU teammates were training thrice a week since the start of December, Wong only managed to play a total of about seven times since July, when she visited her friend’s hall of residence in Australia, which has table tennis facilities that are free to use.

“I would say that one of the biggest hurdles was regaining my physical fitness and mental strength,” said Wong.

“My table tennis experience in Sydney alone was definitely insufficient preparation for IVP, because I didn’t have a coach there and thus didn’t have proper trainings.”

Wong added that table tennis, being one of the fastest ball games, requires players to have quick reactions and undivided concentration when receiving the ball — a skill that she did not practise during her exchange.

In a bid to regain her previous form, Wong attended the NTU team’s rigorous training sessions as soon as she returned, less than a month before the start of the new table tennis season.

“I would say my standard definitely dropped as compared to my teammates who trained consistently and my body is still not used to training competitively after taking a hiatus from table tennis for close to 11 months,” said Wong.

To prepare the team for the season, trainings often included friendly matches among the players or with external clubs and schools such as Jinan University from China.

As the IVP Games draw closer, Wong will take up extra training sessions offered by her coach to hit the ground running when the competition starts.

Back to fighting form

PHOTO: MUN YONG JIAN

National basketball player Jabez Su has been racing against time to recover from an injury and reach full fitness before the start of the IVP Games.

The third-year student from the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering sustained a depression fracture and a full cartilage tear in his left shoulder during a match against Thailand in the ASEAN University Games in July.

He then had an operation on his shoulder just three days before he left for his overseas exchange programme in August at the BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo, Norway.

“Initially, I wanted to experience the new basketball culture (in Norway), represent the school and play their version of IVP,” said Su, who plays as a small forward. “But because of my injury, I had no choice but to take a five-month-long break.”

The 23-year-old only resumed playing in November, when he began training with OSI Basketball, an Oslo-based basketball club for students.

Trainings were held two to three times a week, with each session lasting for about three hours.

Although he had just returned from a serious injury, Su was eager to rejoin the high-intensity and competitive training sessions.

“This is the right approach towards trainings — being hungry to get better each session. This was the best takeaway for me, as the competitive environment was a healthy place to nurture players like myself,” said Su.

Su, who also participated in the 2013 Southeast Asian Games, returned to Singapore late last month, less than three weeks from the start of the basketball IVP season on 11 Jan.

Despite being unable to compete in Norway as the team’s players had already been registered in the amateur league, Su trained with OSI’s A and B teams — the top two of the club’s four teams — during his stay there.

Su’s experience with the OSI Basketball team helped him regain some of his stamina and ball sense as he trained with larger and more physical players. But above all, he was anxious to return and train with his NTU teammates once again.

“Although I didn’t get to meet our opponents during SUniG (Singapore University Games), I’ve had the chance to play against them in outside clubs and competitions such as the National Basketball League, held annually for the best local clubs,” said Su.

“My main worry is how to gel with the current team, who just won the SUniG Championship.”

After consecutive fourth-place finishes in the last two IVP Games, Su hopes to make a substantial contribution to the team and win them the championship this year.