On Monday, Malaysia’s best hope for a gold, artistic gymnast Farah Ann Hadi, suffered a recurrence of an old thigh injury during the individual all-around and could only finish fifth while team-mate Nur Eli Ellina placed sixth.
Vietnam’s Thi Ha Thanh won the gold while compatriot Thi Ngan Thuong Do took the silver.
A day later, the 17-year-old Farah failed to finish among the medals in her pet event, finishing fourth in the floor exercise.
She did, however, grab a silver on the uneven bars, the same apparatus which caused her injury, while Nur Eli denied another Vietnamese 1-2 when she took silver in the balance beam.
The Malaysian men fared even worse, placing fifth out of six teams.
However, the national squad have been plagued by injury and were severely weakened even before the Games started.
Top rhythmic gymnast Lee Wan Nin was ruled out just days before the Games while the women’s artistic team were already without the likes of Chan Sau Wah, gold medallist in Korat 2007, and Cheong See Teng, who retired prematurely due to persistent injuries.
Top gymnast Tracie Ang arrived at the Games half-fit heaping all the pressure on Farah, Nur Eli and Noor Hasleen Fatih.
With only three fit gymnasts, Malaysia could not compete in the team event. Perhaps if they had five gymnasts in the team, instead of just four, it could have allowed for a bit of rotation and rest for Farah, Nur Eli and Hasleen and a better shot at gold.
The men too showed fighting spirit despite suffering injuries throughout the Games. Mohd Hamzaruddin Nordin, 18, had a bad fall during the floor exercise but bravely returned to compete in the pommel horse before the injury took its toll on him.
So two silvers are not too bad considering the injury jinx that dogged the squad.
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