Gymnast Tracie gets Glasgow squad thumbs up

KUALA LUMPUR: National elite gymnast Tracie Ang has been given the green light to compete in next month’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Tracie, who was initially left out of the four-member women’s artistic team due to a back injury, will now join Farah Ann Abdul Hadi, Tan Ing Yueh and Britain-based Natasha Raymund Jayadev Devaraj for the July 23-Aug 3 Games. 

“As a coach, you want to see all your best gymnasts compete and it’s great to have Tracie in the team,” said national coach and choreographer Nataliya Sinkova. 

At the last Games in New Delhi in 2010, Tracie combined with Farah Ann, Chan Sau Wah and Noor Hasleen Fatihin Hasnan to lead Malaysia to fourth place in the team event. It was Malaysia’s best-ever finish. Tracie also made the finals of the vault and floor exercise, finishing sixth and eighth respectively.

However, it’s a whole different ball game now for Tracie as the Games will be her first competition for almost a year. 

The 21-year-old’s last competition was the Kuala Lumpur Sukma in July last year. After the Sukma, she took time off to recover from her injuries.

In February, she came back to the national team to prepare for the Artistic Celtic Cup-Common­wealth Invitational in Perth, Scotland, in April. But she suffered a back injury and was forced to skip the championship.

Sinkova, however, is confident that with a little patience and perseverance, Tracie will be back at her best for the Games.

“Tracie has the ability to recover really fast. When she came back to train last February, she needed just one month to get back to her best while the others took maybe two months. That’s one of the positive thing that hopefully can work to her advantage again,” said Sinkova. 

“But as you age, your body needs more rest. As a coach, you have to do a balancing act (between training for a big competition and giving the gymnasts enough rest) especially when you are so close to competition,” she added.