Strong Zero completes rare double with NUS’ first ICPC regional win in Japan
NUS School of Computing has capped an exceptional competitive programming season with another landmark achievement. Team Strong Zero has secured NUS’ first-ever ICPC regional victory in Japan, completing a rare double just weeks after its historic win in Taiwan.
The team – comprising three International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) gold medallists Yuto Watanabe, Ashley Aragorn Khoo, and Tan Si Jie – emerged champions of the 2025 ICPC Asia Yokohama Regional Contest, marking the first time an NUS team has topped an ICPC regional hosted in Japan, where host cities rotate across the country and the field regularly features some of Asia-Pacific’s strongest teams.
From left: IOI gold medallists Ashley Aragorn Khoo, Yuto Watanabe and Tan Si Jie, accompanied by coach Dr Eldon Chung – taken after the award ceremony at the 2025 ICPC Regionals in Yokohama
Breaking through one of Asia-Pacific’s toughest ICPC sites
ICPC regionals hosted in Japan are regarded within the competitive programming community as among the most demanding in the Asia-Pacific region. Japanese universities have a long tradition of excellence in competitive programming and Olympiads, and the Japan region consistently attracts technically strong, disciplined teams from across the Asia-Pacific region.
As a result, NUS has historically participated sparingly at Japanese ICPC sites. Over the years, NUS teams recorded steady progress – placing 11th in 2003, 9th in 2019, and 3rd in 2024 – but had never claimed the top spot.
Strong Zero’s victory in Yokohama therefore represents a significant breakthrough, following closely on the team’s first-ever win at the Taiwan regional just three weeks earlier.
Early breakthroughs, late uncertainty
According to team reports, Strong Zero set the tone early in the contest. The team was the first to solve Problems E and H within the opening half hour, and later became one of only two teams in the contest to solve Problem L, one of the hardest tasks in the problem set.
Despite these early breakthroughs, the contest remained finely balanced. As the scoreboard evolved, there was a point when the team believed a second-place finish was more likely. As coach Dr Eldon Chung later shared after the contest, the sense of relief only came when the final standings were revealed – turning tension into celebration in a matter of moments.
The team’s ability to stay composed under uncertainty ultimately proved decisive.
A season that reshapes expectations
The Yokohama title follows Strong Zero’s historic win at the ICPC Taiwan regional earlier this season – another site that NUS teams have traditionally found difficult to break through.
Together, the two results represent an unusually strong showing across two of Asia-Pacific’s most competitive ICPC regions, and reflect a level of consistency rarely achieved in a single competitive cycle.
Associate Professor Steven Halim, who represented NUS Computing as an ICPC contestant in the early 2000s and has coached the programme since 2008, noted that NUS teams do not normally compete at either the Taiwan or Japan sites due to the strength of the field. Strong Zero’s decision to challenge themselves at both – and to succeed at both – marks a meaningful moment for the programme.
Acknowledgements
Strong Zero’s achievements are supported by a broader ecosystem for competitive programming at NUS. This includes scholarship pathways that attract Olympiad talent to the University, sustained coaching and mentoring, and long-term industry partnerships under the Centre for Nurturing Computing Excellence (CeNCE).
NUS also recognises the long-standing partnership of the School’s CeNCE supporters – Jane Street, Hudson River Trading, Jump Trading, Optiver, Virtu Financial, Citadel | Citadel Securities, and Presto Labs – whose commitment continues to nurture competitive programming excellence across the region.
Strong Zero’s win in Yokohama stands not just as another milestone, but as confirmation of a breakthrough season – one that expands expectations of what NUS teams can achieve on Asia-Pacific’s most competitive ICPC stages.
