Malaysian icon thwarts rising PH star

Kaitlin de Guzman bags the silver medal in floor exercises in Gymnastics in the 2017 SEAG Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

KUALA LUMPUR—Going for gold in her pet floor exercise, Kaitlin de Guzman ran into a Malaysian gymnastic icon Wednesday here in the Southeast Asian Games.

The 17-year-old novice, daughter of a former SEA Games champion, ended up settling for silver against Malaysian Farah Ann Abdul Hadi, the very popular defending champion.

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“I knew it was gonna be tough because she (Hadi) had a high-start value and which she executed cleanly,” said women’s artistic gymnastics team coach Jasmin Ortega of the Malaysian, whose face is splashed on LRT and MRT lines all over this city.

Hadi won the event two years ago in Singapore and came into the finals at MITEC Hall as the prohibitive favorite for the gold.

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“Kaitlin also performed very well and had a clean routine as well,” said Ortega, who sees a bright future for Philippine gymnastics with De Guzman in the fold.

“We are very happy to have her with the team,” said Ortega of De Guzman, who only had one month to train with the team. “And she jibes well with the team like she’s been part of it for a long time.”