Tan Ing Yueh will compete in all six events
KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Ing Yueh will be stepping into uncharted waters when she competes at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games from July 23-Aug 3.
It will be the 18-year-old national elite artistic gymnast’s first appearance at a multi-sport Games.
“Gymnastics was not contested at the Myanmar SEA Games last year, so I didn’t get a chance to compete. My biggest competition was last year’s World Cup in Doha. As Glasgow will be my first big multi-sports Games, I’m really very excited,” said Ing Yueh.
Ing Yueh earned herself a spot in the team by finishing third behind Farah Ann Abdul Hadi and Britain-based Natasha Ilani Raymund Javadev in the selection trials in April. Tracie Ang, who has just recovered from injuries, is the fourth member of the team.
“The experience at the national trials was quite nerve-racking, but I knew that I needed to perform my best. When I found out I got a place in the team, I was so happy. It was an amazing feeling,” said Ing Yueh.
For Ing Yueh, she will be going back to a country full of wonderful memories. She took part in the Artistic Celtic Cup-Commonwealth Invitational in Perth, Scotland, in April and helped Malaysia win a bronze in the team event.
It has been a rewarding few months for Ing Yueh as she also clinched one gold (bars) and one silver (vault) at the Singapore Open in June.
“No matter what competition, I always try to go out there and do my best,” said Ing Yueh.
She is set to compete in all six events – vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise as well as the team and all-around individual – in Glasgow.
“What I am hoping for is to better my scores, especially in the vault (13.3 points) and uneven bars (12.7). All the top Commonwealth gymnasts will be there and I hope that will give me extra motivation to up my performances.
“I count myself very lucky to have Tracie and Farah as team-mates. They’ve competed at the Games before so it’s nice to know they’ll be there with me. I’m really excited to be competing in Glasgow and I hope to do my very best there,” she said with a smile.
