* Never showed her disappointments
* Always cool and composed with a ready sweet smile
* A bad landing and a fall is just reward for winning a gold, a silver and two bronze medals
Farah Ann Abdul Hadi is certainly the darling of Malaysia when it came to artistic gymnastics in the 28th SEA Games in Singapore and the Bishan Sports Hall is testimony to this when she finally won an individual gold medal which came in the floor exercise.
It was a fitting reward for the 21-year-old for the ups and downs she endured as Malaysia ended their campaign in the biennial games with a haul of three golds, three silvers and thre bronze medals for a total medal tally of of 17.
As the senior in the team Farah had to set a perfect exeample and “keep the fire burning” even when the chips were down. On the personal front Farah had a bad landing in the uneven bars and a fall in the balance beam but she never showed her disappointment nor frowned even when the chips were down.
The disappointments were very nicely camouflaged by her big sweet smile and articulate replies to media questions. And without doubt Farah was Malaysia’s perfect “Little Ambassador” and inspiration to her young team members many of whom were making their SEA Games debut.
On Wednesday, Farah celebrated her individual gold medal in the floor exercise amid tears of joy while getting hugs and high fives from her team.
“Personally it is an achievement winning the individual gold but more importantly its is for Malaysia,” said an emotional Farah after the scores were flashed on the scoreboard.
The Malaysian garnered 13.733 for her gold with Indonesia’s Rifda Irfanalutfi taking the silver with 13.700 points and the bronze going to Vietnam’s Phan Thi Ha Thanh (13.433).
To round it up Malaysia also garnered a silver through SEA Games debutant Jeremiah Loo in the men’s horizontal bar with 14.133 points. The gold went to Vietnam’s Dinh Phuong Thanh (14.233 points) and the bronze to Singapore’s Aizat Muhammad Jufrie (12.833).
Malaysia’s tally in artistic gymnastics is 3-3-3 while Vietnam finished on top with 9-4-4.
