Audrey competes in the women’s beam.
KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 20): The various obstacles and problems that the Sarawak artistic gymnastics team faced in their preparations for Sukma XX in Kuala Lumpur did not hinder them from producing a creditable performance.
Going into the competition at the MSN Gymnasium in Bukit Jalil as underdogs, Sarawak still managed to win one gold, one silver, and one bronze.
In his final Sukma outing, Sarawak’s sole male representative Ally Hamuda Abdullah succeeded in bagging the men’s rings gold, sharing honours with Penang’s Ng Chun Chen after they both collected 12.867 points.
The silver medal was contributed by Audrey Jude Rendih Alexander in the women’s vault, while Cassandra Lavigne Shelden won the bronze in the women’s uneven bars.
“I am very happy and satisfied with the great performance of our gymnasts and many rival teams did not expect us to provide a stiff challenge as they thought we might not be sending teams to this Sukma,” said team manager Jacqueline George Paou.
“The team were without a professional coach for 20 months after former coaches Bogomil Ivanov Momchova and Gergana Momchilova from Bulgaria left us in August 2020.
“They only returned to intensive training in the middle of July after the new coaches from Georgia, Yuri Basisvili and Maia Gvaramadze arrived in Kuching in May this year. The coaches had to do some reconditioning for one and half months to get the gymnasts back in shape.”
Jacqueline (seated left) is seen with the state team. Standing at right is Sarawak Sports Corporation sports development officer Dedia Serini Ahmad.
According to Jacqueline, there were difficulties in getting the new coaches to come to Sarawak due to the Covid-19 pandemic and there was a problem in getting a visa for them when the Russia-Ukraine war broke out.
“We were actually targeting for a medal from Ally and we are indeed happy to get three medals and also maintain our rankings for the next Sukma.
“We should come back stronger in the next Sukma in Johor in 2024 as we still have the backbone of the women’s team, whereby Audrey and Cassandra are still eligible.
“We will also call back the male gymnasts who have trained under Bogomil and Gergana to prepare a men’s team in Sukma XXI,” she added.
At the last Sukma in Perak in 2018, Sarawak captured one gold, one silver and three bronze medals.