Vietnam beat Malaysia to artistic gold

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia lost the gold medal in the team event of artistic gymnastics at the Malaysian International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MiTec), here tonight.
Malaysia managed to gather 305.550 points for the silver while Vietnam took the gold medal with 319.050 points, 13.5 points more than Malaysia, while Thailand took the bronze with 293.200.
The silver medal failed to match the gold won during the Manila SEA Games in 2005.
The Malaysian squad represented by Tan Fu Jie, Muhammad Abdul Azim Othman, Jeremiah Loo Phay Xing, Azroy Amierol Jaafar, Zul Bahrin Mat Asri and Chau Jern Rong had been training under coach Ng Shu Liang.
"I am very proud of what the boys did today. I was nearly in tears. Though we lost to Vietnam, I believe the gymnasts did their best. I hope in the future, teams will look at us as a serious contender because we were not regarded as a serious medal prospect," he told reporters after prize presentation ceremony, here tonight.
Eight countries – Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Myanmar and Thailand – took part in the event. — Bernama