KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 — The Juara Programme initiated by the National Sports Council (NSC) and the Malaysian Gymnastics Federation (MGF) has borne positive results as national gymnasts created history by winning two gold medals at the World Challenge Cup in Slovenia.
MGF secretary N. Shanmugarajah said the programme had started last September.
“We had never expected to win a gold medal at the World Cup, let alone winning two, which is a historic feat for the country,” he said. “However, we knew that the gymnasts had prepared well for the World Cup.
“The programme offers intensive training to the gymnasts and the results are there for us to see,” he told Bernama today. The gymnasts are under the guidance of coach Nataliya Sinkova.
Tan Ing Yueh and Tracie Ang made the country proud by bagging two gold medals in the World Challenge Cup in Ljubljana, Slovenia, yesterday while Farah Ann Abdul Hadi contributed a silver medal in the same event.
Ing Yueh delivered the country’s first ever gold medal in the World Cup after winning the women’s balance beam with 13.800 points while Tracie Ang won the hearts of the judges in the women’s floor exercise by scoring 13.450 points.
Farah’s silver medal was from the uneven bars.
“I believe with the (Juara Programme) in place until the 2017 Sea Games, gymnastics will have a better chance of winning gold medals because the programme is aimed at preparing gymnasts for the Sea Games,” he said.
The first phase of the Juara Programme involves 800 athletes from 35 sports that have been shortlisted. The second phase starts in October and ends in March 2017.
The final phase, which is expected to feature a reduced number of athletes, will start in April 2017.
Shanmugarajah hopes the programme would also come in handy to prepare gymnasts for the Asean University Games hosted by Singapore in July. — Bernama
