22 March, 2024

BSKL Lions show athletic excellence at 2024 U13 FOBISIA Games in Bangkok

BSKL Lions show athletic excellence at 2024 U13 FOBISIA Games in Bangkok - BSKL Lions show athletic excellence at 2024 U13 FOBISIA Games in Bangkok
BSKL Lions show athletic excellence at 2024 U13 FOBISIA Games in Bangkok
BSKL proudly sent 31 students to Pattana Sports Resort, Bangkok, Thailand. We were here to embark on three grueling days of sports that include a track meet, swimming competition and 2 days of football and basketball tournaments!

Day 1:
Our first competition of the U13 FOBISIA was the Athletics meet. Both on the track and on the field, our BSKL students competed against some of the top schools in Asia. We saw some fantastic individual performances, notably:

  • Zac P - Gold in his Discus, Shot Put and Javelin
  • Jared - Gold in his 200m and broke the FOBISIA record, held since 2018 (with a time of 25.97)

In the afternoon, we went to the pool, after after a short weather delay we begun our quest to win as many medals as possible. Our team was faultless in their pursuit, and began chasing medals from the first race. Our swimmers were fantastic in the water, with plenty of podium finishes from Madeline, Ian Ng, Ian Tang, Poorvana and more. However, our very own “Mr Malaysia” broke 3 FOBISIA records:

  • Joshua L - 50m Butterfly - 27.65
  • Joshua L - 100m Butterfly - 1:02.62
  • Joshua L - 50m backstroke - 31.08

BSKL came 3rd overall!

Day 2:
Unlike previous years, our girls and boys competed at the same time. We began on the court playing basketball. Our boys started strong, narrowly losing out to BSM, a tough first game. Our girls game was even closer, starting strong but being edged out of the win by only one point. Against ELC, our boys team got their first win. Giving them the confidence boost they needed to kick start this basketball tournament. Our girls then put on a defensive masterclass, and held the ELC girls team to 3-1 up until the final minute. ELC threw up a shot and sadly, it went in, finishing with a 3-3 draw! Our boys continued their winning streak against the British School of Shanghai, winning 27-23. More standout performances from Travis, Y8 and Hudson, Y8, leading their team with confidence. The girls were unlucky again with a 9-8 loss. Coming down to the final seconds, BSKL missed some crucial chances to win the game, fortunately Heidi closing the gap to only 1 point with two fantastic free throws. Our boys finished strong in fourth place after losing out to an accomplished British School of Manila team, and our girls finished up 6th spot. Fantastic performances as a whole for both teams. 

Day 3: 
Similar to basketball, both girls and boys played on the same pitches. This meant that the atmosphere for the competition was even greater, better than previous years. The boys began their tournament with a tough game against the future winners, Rugby School Thailand. We lost by only 1 goal, despite our constant pressure. Bouncing back from the defeat, we took on Discovery Bay HK and despite going down 1-0, we brought it back to 2-1 for the win. The third game was a necessary win to take us to the semi finals, however, with a lapse in focus we a last minute goal was scored by British School of Shanghai to secure the 2-1 win! These results took us into the 5th/6th playoff game against our local rivals, Garden International. We did not let up going into this game, and wanted to come away with the highest possible finish (plus Malaysian school bragging rights!), so with that, we out muscled, out ran and our performed GIS securing the 2-0 win! 

Our girls competed incredibly, up against some really tough competition. Kate, our debuting goalkeeper performed miraculously and her energy and tenacity in goal was unmatched. However, we could not find the net like some of our opponents and we went on a run of losses. This did not knock our spirit though, as Ms Beacroft rallied behind the girls until our final game which saw Heidi and Poorvana link up for a goal to end our tournament. A great effort by all the girls, ultimately coming 8th spot. 

“You have no choices about how you lose, but you do have a choice about how you come back and prepare to win again”, Pat Riley, President of the Miami Heat.