BANGKOK: She’s only 20, but Ng Joe Ee has announced that her days as a rhythmic gymnast are over. Her mounting injuries have left her with no choice but to retire.
An emotional Joe Ee announced her decision to quit after winning bronze in the individual all-around in the SEA Games yesterday.
She was tied for bronze with Thailand’s Piyada Peeramatukorn after both were awarded 96.890 points at Thammasat University in Pathum Thani yesterday.
Philippines’ Althea Ramilo Jasmine captured gold after scoring 102.180 points while Singapore’s Angeline Yang took home silver with a score of 101.490.
For Joe Ee, it was goodbye with a heavy heart after missing out on the gold in her final outing.
The Kuala Lumpur-born lass though did capture the team title a day earlier.
“People might be shocked that I’m retiring at such a young age but this is not about age but about my body. My body simply cannot take it any more,” said Joe Ee.
“When I was younger, I could perform all my routines easily. As the years passed it got harder harder due to injuries.
“I’m carrying a lot of injuries. I have issues in my upper and lower back, neck and leg. I had eight pain killing injections before I flew to Bangkok for the Games. I could not train right after taking the injections as I had to rest for a couple of days.”
“I’m sad as I targeted the gold. I put too much stress on myself as I knew this was going to be my last competition,” said Joe Ee.
“I made some mistakes in the hoop event. I dropped my hoop which never happens in training.
“I kept thinking I needed the perfect performance. I put undue pressure on myself and ended up making mistakes,” said Joe Ee who won silver in her debut Games in 2022 in Vietnam.
She enjoyed her most memorable outing in the same year in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where she captured gold medals in the ball and ribbon events.
While quitting as a gymnast, Joe Ee is not leaving the sport. She plans to become a coach next year.
“I want to coach young gymnasts in clubs. I hope I can inspire more gymnasts to join the national team.”
Malaysia also added two silvers in the group exercise and group ribbon events.
Carol Na, Valerie Ng, Maia Ong, Bernice See and Syamimi Amalia Shahrizam scored 17.660 points in the group ribbon to finish behind hosts Thailand, who were awarded 21.230 points. Philippines claimed bronze after scoring 10.300.
In the group exercise, Carol, Valerie, Maia, Bernice and Syamimi again came second with 22.50 points. Hosts Thailand took gold after scoring 22.90 points while Philippines claimed bronze with a score of 13.27.
Carol was unhappy with the scores, saying that the judges favoured the hosts.
“We believe that we did our best but the points were not what we expected,” lamented Carol.
“Our points were lower than on Monday (during the team event), which is not fair.
“We cannot change anything. We feel our efforts throughout the year were not rewarded. We trained every day for more than 10 hours,” added Carol.
RESULTS
Individual all-around
1. Althea Ramilo Jasmine (Phi) 102.180; Angeline Yang (Sin) 101.490; 3. Ng Joe Ee (Mas) 96.890; 3. Piyada Peeramatukorn (Tha) 96.890 (Joe Ee and Piyada tied for bronze)
Group ribbon
1. Thailand 21.230; 2. Malaysia (Carol Na, Valerie Ng, Maia Ong, Bernice See and Syamimi Amalia Shahrizam) 17.660; Philippines 10.300.
Group exercise
1. Thailand 22.90 2. Malaysia (Carol Na, Valerie Ng, Maia Ong, Bernice See and Syamimi Amalia Shahrizam 22.50; 3. Philippines 13.27.
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