Yulo continues to be a thorn in Malaysia’s side

KUALA LUMPUR: The spotlight will be on the men artistic gymnasts at the Cambodia SEA Games as the women’s event has been scrapped by the organisers.

But it is not exactly going to be smooth sailing for the men.

Coach Ng Shu Liang expects Filipino Carlos Yulo (pic) to be a major thorn in Malaysia’s side at the Games in May.

The Filipino athlete clinched the parallel bar and vault gold medals at the World Cup Series held in Baku, Azerbaijan earlier this month.

The 23-year-old Yulo, who is based in Japan, made headlines when he won five gold medals at the Vietnam SEA Games last year.

Shu Liang said the team were depleted with the retirement of seasoned hands like Tan Fu Jie and he’s now in the midst of rebuilding the squad.

The squad for Cambodia comprise Mohd Sharul Aimy, Ng Chun Chen, Lukman Al Hafiz, Teoh Chuen Feng, Ally Hamuda Abdullah and Shakir Aiman Subri.

“I won’t say we cannot win gold but it’s tougher with Yulo as his pet event, which is vault, is the same with our best prospect Shahrul,” he said.

“We have a fresh squad this time with two newbies who had not competed in the SEA Games. We didn’t have much competitions for the gymnasts to prepare but we take it as a challenge.

“I see the current gymnasts being very consistent with their performance, which is a very good sign.

“Gymnasts take time to mature and I believe we have a good team and they will get better with time,

At the last SEA Games, the Malaysian men’s team delivered a silver and bronze from the pommel horse from Fu Jie and Sharul respectively.