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.”