Selangor gymnasts in a class of their own in MSSM
KUALA LUMPUR: Selangor came out with their guns blazing on the final day of the MSSM (national schools) rhythmic gymnastics competition as they swept all the three gold medals at stake.
A day after losing the overall crown to arch-rivals Federal Territory on Thursday, Selangor found their touch by winning all the group exercise events in the seniors, juniors and pre-juniors categories.
In the seniors class, Selangor’s Thin Yi En, Loo Shiow Yng, Tan Xin Yu, Yap Qian Ling and Chai Xin Nong put up a composed routine featuring six clubs and two hoops to amass 24.283 points.
FT were second with a 24,.000 total while Malacca could only manage 13.849 points to take the bronze. Only three teams competed in the event.
Thin Yi En, a 17-year-old student at the Sri Kuala Lumpur School in Subang Jaya, described the win as “awesome”.
“It wasn’t a perfect performance, but we’re happy to win the gold. All our efforts these past few months finally paid off,” said Yi En.
In the juniors category, Selangor’s Shannon Ng Jia Huai, Claudia Ng Jia Yee, Beh Le Ying, Chai Bao Lin, Leong Yi Wai, Foo Shi Qi pulled off a crisp, fast-paced routine with their ribbons to earn 23.466 points to emerge champions ahead of FT (23.083) and Malacca (13.716).
“We’ve been training since last year. We really wanted to win this time. It was a very challenging routine and we pulled it off. We’re so happy,” said Shannon, a student at SMK Convent, Kajang.
After the four-day competition, FT finished as overall champions for the sixth consecutive year with 12 golds, 12 silvers and eight bronzes. Selangor came in second with a 9-9-6 haul. Perak and Malacca finished joint third with three bronzes each.
Penang were the only other state to medal, winning a solitary bronze.
