BANGI: She may be shy in front of a microphone but Perak's teen gymnast Yeap Kang Xian has no problems expressing herself on any apparatus.
The 18-year-old made that clear when she opened her Malaysia Games (Sukma) campaign with a gold in the vault event at Dewan Canselor Tun Abdul Razak at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia on Saturday (Aug 22).
Kang Xian scored 12.934 points to hold off a strong challenge from Federal Territories’ Marissa Zaidul Azuan (12.284), with her effort's higher difficulty proving the difference in a tight 0.65-point win.
Perlis’ Eliza Adlan settled for bronze with 11.850.
Visibly nervous when interviewed, the Bukit Jalil Sports School student downplayed the scale of the win.
"I feel it’s easy because I have already competed so many times. This is a smaller competition, so I feel it’s really easy," she said.
"It is nice to get gold in vault, but I want the floor exercise gold as well, so I have to stay focused and listen to my coach, Ng Shu Wai."
It is Kang Xian's third Sukma appearance, and a second gold will improve on her one gold (uneven bars) and two silvers (balance beam, floor exercise) from the Sarawak edition.
"I want to improve further by competing against gymnasts from China and Japan. I need to raise the level of difficulty in my routines," she said.
Meanwhile, Kelantan’s Nor Adam Hazziq Nor Azaha overcame shoulder, wrist and ankle injuries to share the men’s floor exercise gold with Sabah’s Marvell Vincent Voo, both scoring 13.050. Penang’s Chew You Wei took bronze with 12.475.
The win was sweet for the 18-year-old, who retained the title he won at the Sarawak Sukma despite only a week of training coming into the Games.
RESULTS
MEN
Floor exercise: 1. Nor Adam Hazziq Nor Azaha (Kel) Marvell Vincent Voo (Sab) 13.050 pts, 3. Chew You Wei (Pen) 12.475.
Pommel horse: 1. Anson Tan Yu Hang (Pen) 12.225, 2. Marvell (Sab) 11.775, 3. Man Chong Ming (Sel) 11.575.
Rings: 1. Liew Kai Jack (Pen), Hanis Firdaus Bashir (Swk) 12.050, 3. Khalish Safiy Khairulanwar (Pah), Chong (Sel) 11.625.
WOMEN
Uneven bars: 1. Cadence Teh Zi Qi (Sel) 11.633, 2. Leong Yee Shean (Sel) 10.500, 3. Hanabi Mizuguchi (FT) 10.433.
Vault: 1. Yeap Kang Xian (Prk) 12.934, 2. Marissa Zaiful Azuan (FT) 12.284, 3. Eliza Adlan (Per) 11.850.
