KUALA LUMPUR: After struggling in the past three legs of the World Cup, artistic gymnast Sharul Aimy has one last chance to try to qualify for the Paris Olympics in July.
He will compete in the World Cup series in Doha, Qatar, on April 17-20.
Malaysian Gymnastics Federation vice president Francis Lau admitted that Sharul's chances of qualifying for the Olympics are tough.
He said Sharul will focus on the vault event, in which he won a bronze at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.
"The World Cup standard is exceptionally high. His prospect (of qualifying for the Olympics) isn't good," said Francis.
Francis said Sharul did well in the first go of the World Cup first leg in Cairo (Feb 15-18) but not in the second and failed to reach the final. It was the same for him in the second leg in Cottbus, Germany (Feb 22-25).
"But in the third leg of the World Cup in Baku (March 7-10), he did well on the vault without many mistakes.
"He reached the final, but it boiled down to who had the highest start value, and he ended in eighth place," said Francis.
If Sharul, 23, fails to make it to the Olympics, the MGF will help him to prepare for the Asian Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from May 12-20.