HAVING to face some of the top nations is indeed a tall order, but the Malaysian Gymnastic Federation (MGF) is confident going into the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
MGF president A. Razak Mat Amin feels the growth rate of the gymnasts in terms of maturity and physical strength has increased since the New Delhi Games in 2010.
“Our athletes have only been moving forward. Take our women’s artistic gymnastics team for example. Apart from Natasha (Ilana Raymund Jayadev), the other four were part of the team that finished fourth in New Delhi.
“That was Malaysia’s best ever achievement.
“This year, the girls know what they should do, and if they can stay focused and not fall during their routine, we can bring back a medal.
“Our target for rhythmic gymnastics remains the same.
“There is only one gymnast from 2010, and it will be good if we can retain the medals and maybe push ourselves to win more.”
Malaysia will only be represented by two gymnasts in men’s artistic — Hairi Zaid Ahmad Saruji and Mohd Hamzarudin Nordin — and their target is to qualify for the individual apparatus finals.
“This will be their first Games, and they will first compete in the qualifying rounds.
“Our hope is for them to make it into the apparatus finals.”
Women’s artistic coach Nataliya Sinkova has set a different target for herself and that is to have her girls score at least 13 points each in all their routines.
Nataliya, who has been coaching the Malaysian squad since 1995, said the bronze medal at the previous Games was just 10 points away.
“We have four apparatus for women’s artistic — vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor.
“The judges will pick the best scores from three gymnasts to be calculated for the team, and my target is to at least have a total of 156 points.
“We scored 146 points at the last edition, and the bronze medal winners had 156.
“Winning a medal is surely what we all want, but hitting a targeted score is what I want more for the girls,” said Nataliya.
The Ukrainian coach is also hopeful Tracie Ang attains full fitness in time for the Games.
“Tracie is surely one of the best, but it is unfortunate that she picked up a back injury just before the Pre-Commonwealth Games in Scotland in April.
“Farah Ann has been the best this year. She won bronze in the floor apparatus at the Pre-Games in April, and in May, won gold in the
floor and vault at the Singapore Open.
“The girls have all been showing great spirit, and I just hope for them to do their best in Glasgow.”
The rhythmic gymnastic team are currently in St. Petersburg, Russia for their final training stint, while the men’s artistic team are in Kunming, China.