Gymnast Rachel in peak form for nationals

Rachel Yeoh, who won three gold medals at the SportExcel Artistic Gymnastics Championships on Saturday, will be looking to excel again at the National Championships on Sunday. - The STAR/ Samuel Ong

KUALA LUMPUR: The SportExcel Artistic Gymnastics Championships served as a good warm-up for national elite gymnast Rachel Yeoh ahead of the national championships which take place on Sunday.

On Saturday, Rachel, who competed in the Class Three and Four category swept up the gold in her favourite event, the uneven bars, with a score of 8.60 ahead of Selangor’s Nor Azira Aziri (8.40) and Pahang’s Siti Nur Bahirah Husniah (6.55). She also emerged tops in the floor exercise and the individual all-round event, but had to settle for silver and bronze in vault and balance beam respectively.

“I’m happy with my result ... but I want to do even better for the nationals tomorrow (Sunday),” said Rachel when met at Gym 3 of the National Sports Council in Bukit Jalil.

The 15-year-old Penangite and double bronze medallist from this year’s Sukma Games will compete in the junior category of the nationals against those aged 15 and younger, including Sarawak’s Esmelda Arecia Menti Alfred Geling who took the Games by storm after winning two gold medals, three silver and a bronze.

However, Rachel, who will be eligible to compete at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, in July and at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, in September will have bigger things on her mind as she focuses on qualifying for her first major event.

National women’s artistic gymnastics head coach Nurul Fatiha Abdul Hamid who has taken Rachel under her wing since the Sukma Games in June said the youngster has shown much promise.

“Rachel has been training under me for the past five, six months and she’s really starting to take shape. I’m happy with how she did today, but I’m hoping she can improve on her performance and really go for it at the nationals tomorrow,” said Nurul Fatiha.

Meanwhile in the SportExcel Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, 13-year-old Izzah Amzan did just enough to clinch the individual all-round title after she managed to bag one gold (ball), one silver (clubs) and one bronze (ribbon) as she bested her nearest rivals and national development squad team-mates with a combined score of 56.800. Olivia Tai took the silver with 56.516 while Koi Sie Yan was third with 55.816.

http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Gymnastics/2013/11/16/Gymnast-Rachel-in-peak-form-for-nationals/