THEY arrived in the US, they cried a little, they stacked and they conquered.

Five Singaporean primary school boys recently clinched one gold and four silvers in the 2008 World Sport Stacking Championships.

In sport stacking, contestants stack and unstack 12 specially designed cups in pre-determined sequences in as fast a time as possible.

The world championships, in which more than 1,300 stackers from eight countries and 34 American states took part, was held in Colorado's Denver Coliseum on 5and 6 Apr.

Representing Singapore were Arnold Teo, Leon Goh, Shasqil Sofyan and brothers Lee Yan Ru and Lee Yan Liang.

The students from Ngee Ann Primary School call themselves Team Napstarz Singapore.

Except for Yan Liang, who is aged 10 and in Primary 5, the rest are Primary 6 students aged 11.

The boys' performance is impressive - this is Singapore's first international outing in the sport.

They were all first introduced to the sport in school and ended up in the national team.

For Leon, the team captain, Shasqil and Arnold, it was their teacher who introduced them to the game. Arnold said: 'In Primary 4, my form teacher took a set to class and taught us to play. At first, I was very lousy at the game, but I enjoyed it.'

He has come a long way since then, bagging a gold in the Individual Cycle event in his age division (11 and under), with a timing of 8.05 secs.

Yan Ru and Yan Liang chanced upon the sport when they saw their friends playing it in school.

The boys were encouraged to practise during recess by English and physical education teacher Faizal Suleiman.

Mr Faizal quipped: 'I encouraged it, because it's good to keep them occupied during breaks. It keeps them from just eating and eating.'

With the setting up of the World Sport Stacking Association (WSSA) Singapore in January came the WSSA Singapore National Championships on 22 Mar.

Sensing the boys' potential, Mr Faizal groomed them to compete by advising them on areas of improvement.

Once a national athlete himself in soccer and silat, he helped them achieve an 'extra edge' through mental strengthening exercises.

The boys got their own stacking cups - as Christmas or birthday presents from family members - and practised at home daily.

The cups can be ordered online, prices starting from $15, Mr Faizal said.

WATCHED YOUTUBE

They even watched sport stacking videos on YouTube to learn from the pros, Leon said.

Their top-notch performance in the nationals led them to Colorado, in a trip organised by WSSA Singapore, and sponsored by local media firm Mega Media Pte Ltd.

They were accompanied by Mr Faizal, three parents, the vice-president of WSSA Singapore Ms Fanny Tham and a cameraman from Mega Media.

In Colorado, the boys battled jetlag after a 24-hour flight, cold temperatures of 2 to 3 deg C and the pressure of performing in front of an audience of more than 5,000.

There were some mishaps - Yan Rui lost his favourite set of cups in a taxi on the way to the Coliseum.

Others were so nervous they were in tears the night before their event.

But they all emerged from the experience triumphant.

In addition to Arnold's gold, Shasqil came in second in the same Individual Cycle event.

The boys also won three silvers in three team relays.

Besides competing, they also interacted with other stackers, exchanging autographs and pins bearing their countries' flags.

And they returned to Singapore on 8 Apr to a champion's welcome - close to a 100 friends and supporters had shown up to cheer them.

Ngee Ann Primary's principal Cheng Huey Teng said: 'We are all very proud of them. It was their first time, yet they have performed beyond expectations.'

The WSSA Singapore National Championships and the documentary on the Singapore team's participation at the 2008 games will be shown exclusively on Sling HD (Channel 12 on SingTel's mioTV) next month.

Aditi Shivaramakrishnan, newsroom intern

This article was first published in The New Paper on April 10, 2008.