Ing Yueh battles the odds to bring home bronze
PETALING JAYA: Tan Ing Yueh defied the odds to grab a bronze medal in the vault event at the FIG World Challenge Cup in Chongqing, China.
Winning the bronze may not be a big deal considering that she delivered Malaysia’s first gold medal in the Cup in winning the women’s balance beam event in 2016 but it was achieved sans the mighty Chinese gymnasts.
Yesterday Ing Yueh (12.650 points) finished behind China’s Yu Lingmin (14.250) and Uzbekistan’s Oksana Chusobitina (14.200) who won the gold and silver medals respectively.
The plucky 22-year-old from Melaka wanted to just make the final but to finish third in her pet event will stand her in good stead for the Manila SEA Games which will be held from Nov 30 to Dec 11.
With qualification to Tokyo for the Olympics next year also on her mind, her effort in China would surely give her the confidence to do better in her upcoming tournaments – Singapore Open, Asian Championships in Mongolia, Universiade Games in Italy and the World Championships in Germany.
Another Malaysian, Farah Ann Abdul Hadi (11.700) finished fourth in the same event.
In the uneven bars, Farah Ann was the best placed among the Malaysians with a sixth-placed finish. Teammate Rachel Yeoh Li Wen ended up seventh.
In the men’s category, Jeremiah Loo Phay Xing finished fifth in the floor event and seventh in the pommel horse, while Tan Fu Jie was sixth in the pommel horse.
Chongqing is the first of seven Challenge Cup events but the Malaysian contingent will only take part in this competition for 2019.