Team Singapore’s Mikayla Yang successfully placed fifth in the hoop final at the 16th Senior Rhythmic Gymnastics Asian Championships. This result has been the best yet achieved by a Singaporean gymnast at the tournament.
Moreover, the 17-year-old athlete also placed sixth in the ball category and seventh in the ribbon event.
With her impressive wins, Yang expressed: “It was really special to compete on home ground. This was my first time taking part in such a major international competition in Singapore, and having my friends, family, and supporters in the crowd made the experience unforgettable. Hearing them cheer for me lifted my spirits and reminded me of how much support I have behind me.
I’m happy with how I performed across the championships. I definitely felt an improvement from my last competition. While there were still some small mistakes, I managed to push through and stay focused. It was also my first time qualifying for three apparatus finals, so I’m proud I was able to perform most of them cleanly, soak in the moment, and represent Singapore with pride.”
Uzbekistan’s Takhmina Ikromova, the Asian Games gold medallist, won first place in both the hoop and club events. Furthermore, Anastasiya Sarantseva, Ikromova’s teammate, won gold in the ball, while Aibota Yertaikyzy of Kazakhstan won the ribbon category.
Yang placed sixth overall in the All-Around category, with a score of 76.500 across her top three routines. The Singaporean followed behind Ikromova (84.500), Sarantseva (83.850), and Yertaikyzy (82.200).
Other tournament updates
Team Singapore’s Leia Yap and Lydia Lim placed 10th and 11th in the All-Around competition at the Junior Asian Championships. More so, Yap also finished fifth in the ribbon final.
Due to the great results from the Singaporean team, the CEO of Singapore Gymnastics, Richard Gordon, admitted: “This has been a fantastic event for Singapore Gymnastics and for Singapore as a whole. It’s only the second time we have hosted a gymnastics competition of this stature, and the first time we have done so for rhythmic gymnastics.
The feedback has been very positive, about the event itself, about Singapore, and about Singapore Gymnastics. It reflects not just our standing as a top sporting nation, but also Singapore’s growing reputation as a destination for major sporting events. We have also seen encouraging results. Mikayla has really stepped up, and this is the first time we have achieved performances at this level. But it’s not just Mikayla, our juniors have made finals too, and that shows we have a strong pipeline coming through.”
In the hoop event, Uzbekistan’s Viktoriya Nikiforova won first place, with China’s Wang Qi and Kyrgyzstan’s Sofia Iarovaia finishing second and third.
Kazakhstan’s Akmaral Yerekesheva showed dominance by winning gold in the ball final and went on to win two more golds in clubs and ribbons.
In the overall All-around standings, Wang Qi led the rankings with a score of 98.450, followed by Yerekesheva and Kuwait’s Layan Behbehani.
Kazakhstan won the senior group title with a final score of 48.450. South Korea came in second with 48.250, and Uzbekistan earned bronze with 48.200.
In the Junior group All-Around competition, Uzbekistan won gold, scoring 45.300. Kazakhstan won silver with 42.050, while Malaysia won bronze with a score of 40.600.