Short on projection, PH gymnasts still log ‘marked progress’

Kaitlin De Guzman who bagged the the Gold medal for Womens Gymnastics Uneven Bars with Reyland Capellan who won Gold for Men’s Floor Exercises also in gymnastics in the 29th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Kuala Lumpur. INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

KUALA LUMPUR—The Philippines’ artistic gymnastics team didn’t get to fulfill the promise of four gold medals but it did improve on its performance two years ago.

Newcomer Kaitlin De Guzman settled for a silver after failing to dislodge defending champion Farah Ann Abdul Hadi of Malaysia in floor exercise Wednesday.

Hadi totaled 13.450 via an almost impeccable routine that involved high-value movements against the backdrop of Arabian-inspired music.

De Guzman, 17, turned in a similar performance—a lot of high-scoring jumps to the tune of a funky jam. But the rookie could only aggregate 13.025 to settle for silver. Indonesia’s Rifda Irfanaluthfu was third with 13.000.

In balance beam, De Guzman wound up third. Reyland Capellan brought home another bronze in vault, matching his result in the same event two years ago.

“It was very good, solid performance by the team,” said women’s co-head coach Jasmin Ortega. “I think we did very well this season. It’s still a marked progress.”

The gymnasts had already stashed two golds through Capellan, who defended his floor exercise title, and the 17-year-old De Guzman, who ruled in uneven bars.

All in all, it was two golds, one silver and two bronzes for the Philippines.

The Philippines won one gold, one silver and two bronzes in the Singapore SEA Games in 2015.