HANGZHOU – Rhythmic gymnast Ng Joe Ee had butterflies in her stomach during her first routine on her Asian Games debut but, thankfully, she managed to stay calm and regain her composure to dance her way into the final of the individual all-around event.
The 17-year-old accumulated 85.150 points to be placed 14th after four apparatus in the qualifying rounds at the Huanglong Sports Centre Gymnasium and be among the 23 finalists out of the 30 who competed today.
The double-gold medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the individual ball and ribbon events scored 28.050 points in the hoop event, ball (28.900 pts) clubs (28.200 pts) and ribbon (28.050 pts).
The Vietnam SEA Games silver medallist in the individual all-around event hopes to continue her good showing in the final round tomorrow.
“The result was good, I hope the final will be the same. Most importantly, I have to work on improving my confidence because I do not feel confident enough… I need to tell myself that I can do it before competing.
“I am scared that my apparatus would drop… when we throw, I overthink (as to whether or not I) can catch the apparatus or not, so I need to stop doing that,” she said.
She also described the atmosphere at the Asian Games arena as being calmer than at the World Championships in Valencia, Spain in August.
“It was loud at the World Championships and I could not calm myself. I feel calmer here, (and I) hope the same will happen in the final,” she added.
Asian champion Takhmina Ikromova of Uzbekistan topped the standings with 100.250 points, followed by compatriot Evelina Atalyants (100.200 pts) and Kazakhstan’s Elzhana Taniyeva (97.650 pts). – October 6, 2023