Skip to main content

Sassy Olivia sashays her way to bronze

Malaysian Olivai Tai Qing Tong clinched bronze in the all-around individual event at the 13th Junior Rhythmic Gymnastics Asian Championships on Sunday. - BRIAN MOH/ The Star
Malaysian Olivai Tai Qing Tong clinched bronze in the all-around individual event at the 13th Junior Rhythmic Gymnastics Asian Championships on Sunday. - BRIAN MOH/ The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Olivai Tai Qing Tong’s sassy display at the 13th Junior Rhythmic Gymnastics Asian Championships was enough to see her clinch bronze in the all-around individual event.

The fifteen-year-old Olivia came out to a cascade of roaring cheers from the gallery at Stadium Putra in Bukit Jalil on Sunday. She returned the favour with a confident performance, scoring 13.75 points (ball), 13.90 (clubs) and 14.05 (hoop) and looked good to land the silver.

However, a mistake in the opening of her ribbon routine proved costly as she could only manage 13.95 for a total of 55.65 points to take the bronze.

Her score was just 0.20 short of silver medallist Anora Davlyatova of Uzbekistan who scored 14.30 (ball), 14.20, (clubs), 13.95 (hoop), 13.40 (ribbon) for a 55.85 total.

The gold went to Kazakhstan’s Yelizaveta Mainovskaya who scored 14.15 (ball), 13.70 (clubs), 14.30 (hoop), 14.10 (ribbon) for a total of 56.25 points.

Shasangari Sivaneswary, the other Malaysian representative, finished ninth with a 53.15 total.
“I’m very happy to deliver the bronze for Malaysia. I hope this is only the beginning,” said Olivia.
Olivia will have a chance to better her medal haul. She has qualified for three individual apparatus finals – the clubs, hoop and ribbon – on Monday. Shasangari will only be competing in the hoop final.

The Malaysian group exercise team of Thew Yue Jia, Chan Mei Thung, Adelina Theresa Mathews, Chai Xin Nong and Yap Sin Lu will also feature in both the ball and clubs finals.
Also in the eight-team final are powerhouses Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Japan.

“We’ve achieved our target of qualifying for the final in five out of six events. Our goal tomorrow (today) is to earn medals in the individual apparatus finals and finish in the top six of the group exercise final,” said team manager Dr Farrah-Hani Imran.

“I think if our gymnasts perform to their routines perfectly, we will definitely be on track to achieve our goal. Today, Olivia was in silver medal position after the first three apparatus. So we’re confident we can achieve the target,” she added.


The Star

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ex-coach's jail sentence cut to a year

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday sentenced former athletics coach C. Ramanathan to 12 months' jail for molesting two junior athletes 19 years ago. A three-man bench led by Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus unanimously dismissed Ramanathan's appeal against conviction, but varied the jail sentence of four years to a year, which was to run concurrently. Following yesterday's ruling, Ramanathan, 75, a former teacher, walked out a free man as he had served 10 months in Kajang Prison. Convicts get one-third remission for good behaviour while in prison. However, he will lose his pension. Hishamudin, who sat with Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail and Datuk Linton Albert, said the court found no merit to overturn the conviction. "However, in reducing the sentence, we considered Ramanathan's age and the long years the appeal has taken." Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud submitted that then High Court judge Tan Sri Abdull Hamid E...
2 comments
Read more

Govt Always Gives Emphasis To Sporting Culture, Says PM

KUALA TERENGGANU, May 29 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badaw i said the government always gives emphasis on cultivating a strong sporting culture in achieving excellence at the international level. As such, the Prime Minister said, it was important to scout for young talents in sports. "I observe that the Malaysia Games (Sukma) has become one of the important platforms to do so. "In this arena, the potentials and skills of the youngsters can be identified for development so that they can achieve greater success in sports," he said in his message in the souvenir book of the 12th Sukma from May 31 until June 9. Abdullah said he was aware that competition in sports was very keen and challenging but this did not mean that Malaysian athletes were incapable of competing at the international level. "The fact is that we have all the characteristics required to be excellent. We must inculcate a strong fighting spirit so that we don't easily surrender,...
1 comment
Read more

Indonesia Choose Komodo Dragon As SEA Games Mascot

KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 (Bernama) -- Host for the 26th SEA Games, Indonesia has chosen the Komodo dragon as mascot for the 2011 Games which will be held in Jakarta and Palembang from Nov 11 to 25. The Indonesia SEA Games Organizing Committee (Inasoc), was qouted by Jakarta Post as saying that a pair of Komodo dragons, a male (Modo) and a female (Modi), were chosen in recognition of the Republic's conservation efforts to protect the dwindling number of the rare lizard. Modo and Modi were unveiled last night at a function in Jakarta, to mark the 200-day countdown before the games open on Nov 11 in Palembang. The Komodo dragons, the largest lizard in the world, only live on the Indonesian islands of Komodo in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara. On Jan 15, Inasoc unveiled its logo, a Garuda eagle, to symbolize the power and grandeur of Indonesia. Indonesia dominated the Games between 1977, when it first competed, and 1997, failing to top the medal charts only twice in that p...
1 comment
Read more