Experience the true prize for youngsters Kang Xian, Marissa

Getting serious: Yeap Kang Xian in action during the women’s vault final.

WHEN you’re a youngster, medals are not the primary objective, experience is.

National gymnasts Yeap Kang Xian and Marissa Zaiful Azlan gained plenty of valuable experience at their debut Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, finishing seventh and eighth respectively in the women’s vault final yesterday.

The 17-year-olds were the youngest on the mats at the Nagoya City General Gymnasium, where Kang Xian scored 12.983 points and Marissa managed 12.733 points.

The oldest finalist was 51-year-old Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan, whose age exceeds the combined ages of the two Malaysian gymnasts.

South Korea’s Yeo Seo-jeong claimed the gold medal with a score of 14.483 while North Korea’s An Chang-ok took silver (13.666) and China’s Du Siyu won bronze (13.450).

Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Quynh Nhu, who narrowly missed out on the podium with 13.449 points, was the only other Asean representative in the final.

The promising performance from the young Malaysian duo bodes well for their prospects at next year’s home SEA Games.

In the uneven bars final, captain Rachel Yeoh Li Wen finished seventh with 12.733 points, falling short of her personal best of 14.000 set during Tuesday’s qualifiers.

Meanwhile, Carlos Yulo, the Philippines’ first Olympic gymnastics champion, added a gold to his trophy cabinet yesterday in a triumph made in Japan.

Marissa Zaiful Azlan (right) hugging South Korea’s Yeo Seo-jeong. — Reuters

The 4-foot-11 inch (1.5m) Yulo trained in Japan under a scholarship from the local Olympic committee and delivered in front of the home crowd with a technical and precise routine to claim the floor exercise gold at the Nagoya City General Gymnasium.

With his brother Karl competing in the same final, Yulo scored 14.666, edging out Kazakhstan’s Milad Karimi (14.600) in a cliffhanger.

Shoma Tsukiyama took bronze for Japan with a score of 14.566.

Only a 10th of a point split the medallists.

Yulo became the first Filipino to win multiple Olympic gold medals when he claimed the floor and vault titles at the Paris Games.

Having missed out on the 2018 Asian Games podium, his only previous appearance at the multi-sport event, the 26-year-old said he was glad to have a full set of world, Olympic and continental titles.

“Having this in my collection, it’s all complete now,” he said.

“We can just relax and really hope for the best tomorrow,” added Yulo.