SELANGOR once again showed their might as they not only retained the overall title with 778 points in the National Schools Age Group Artistic Gymnastics championships but also exacted sweet revenge over Penang to top the medal standings with 18 gold, 18 silver and 11 bronze at the end of the five-day meet in Kota Tinggi yesterday.
Penang topped the medal standings with a 8-3-5 tally last year, Malacca finished a surprise second with 7-5-8 while Selangor could only manage 6-10-4 to finish a disappointing third.
Penang were a pale shadow this year and plunged to 12th place out of the 13 teams with only one gold and two bronze to show for only 137 points.
But this time around, Selangor were simply unbeatable. Powered by national back-up gymnasts like Farah Ann Abdul Hadi and Nur Eli Ellina in the Girls' Under-18 and Daniel Richard Iskandar in the Boys' Under-18 and Choo Choo Yinn Haur in the Boys' Under-15, Selangor reigned supreme.
Farah Ann was also crowned as the Girls' Under-18 overall individual champion while Daniel walked away with the Boys' Under-18 individual title. Choo Yinn Haur made it a treble for Selangor by winning the Boys' Under-15 title.
Sarawak girls contributed hugely to the East Malaysian state's fifth overall finish with 295 points and a medal tally of 8-4-5.
Sarawak's Bulgarian coach Bogomil Momchilov said: "It is a huge step forward for Sarawak gymnastics. We put in a lot of hardwork and this is reflected in the results. I am happy with the outcome."
Sarawak had two girls' individual overall champions. Esmelda Arecia Alfred with 48.250 points came out tops in the Under-12 category while Nasha Amira Baktiar (45.100) reigned supreme in the Under-15.
Selangor coach Mohd Nurul Zaiman was more than pleased with his team's overwhelming success.
"We were determined to retain the overall title, which we did in style. And we completed out mission of wresting the top place in medal standings," he said.
Sabah's Brandon Denoly spoilt Selangor's party by taking the overall individual title in the Boys' Under-12 category.
Read more: Selangor just unbeatable http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/68rizfinale/Article#ixzz1H7NkdeHX
