Esmelda emerges as junior gymnastics champ

Esmelda Arecia Menti Alfred Geling of Sarawak emerged as the junior champion of the 28th National Artistic Gymnastics Championships on Sunday with a haul of five gold medals and one bronze. - Filepic

KUALA LUMPUR: Sarawak’s Esmelda Arecia Menti Alfred Geling emerged as the women’s junior champion after a commanding performance in the 28th National Artistic Gymnastics Championships on Sunday.

The 13-year-old pocketed an impressive five golds and one bronze. Esmelda topped the competition in the vault (12.900), balance beam (12.70), uneven bars (11.25), individual all-around (49.15) as well as the team event with Nur Amirah Idayah, Syahsani Izzati, Dewi Nisrina and Kameliana Goh.

Esmelda’s only blemish came in the floor exercise. She suffered a fall in her routine and it cost her dearly. She ended up with a score of 11.70 points to finish third behind Selangor’s Nur Azira Aziri (11.90) and Penang’s Rachel Yeoh (11.80).

“I’m very happy. I wanted to do my best and although it was not a clean sweep, I’m still happy with my performance,” said Kuching-born Esmelda after the competition at Gym 3 at the National Sports Council (NSC) in Bukit Jalil.

In the women’s senior category, Selangor’s Letitia Ng was crowned the new national champion. The 18-year-old won all the five golds, winning the balance beam (9.50), floor exercise (10.10), uneven bars (8.00), vault (11.650) and individual all-around (39.90).

The competition, however, was overshadowed by the fact that it only had three competitors. Besides Letitia, the other participants were Sabah’s Siti Shafira Atika Mohd Fazli and Jussrieyana Ahmad Dafriy. National gymnasts – Farah Ann Abdul Hadi, Tracie Ang, Tan Ing Yueh and Nur Eli Elina Azmi – were absence due to injuries.

It was Letitia’s biggest medal haul and she said it felt weird to have so many medals around her neck.

“I didn’t know only the three of us would be competing,” said Letitia. “Winning like this is bittersweet. I would have preferred to compete against a bigger field,” added the Taylor’s University Canadian pre-university student.

In the men’s competition, NSC’s Chen Guo Jun took the senior title after clinching four golds (floor exercise, rings, parallel bars and all-around individual) and a bronze (horizontal bars).

Selangor’s Benjamin Cheong landed the men’s junior title with four golds in the parallel bars, pommel horse, rings and all-around individual.

http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Gymnastics/2013/11/17/Esmelda-emerges-as-junior-gymnastics-champ/