Lone Pinay gymnast limps out of Asian Games

GUANGZHOU, China – Frances Audrey Muñoz found little hope in competing alone against Korea and Vietnam and finished last after the qualification round of the artistic gymnastics yesterday at the Asian Games Town Gymnasium.

Muñoz, 17, tripped on the floor and limped out of the elimination round, finishing 10th in the individual qualification with score of 9.300 in the floor exercises and 10.4 in the beam. She did not score in the uneven bars and vault.

“I think my performance on the beam was a bit okay, but on the floor, I was a little stupid because I tripped,” said the 108 lb, 17 year-old Muñoz who, like compatriot and rhythmic gymnast Ma. Victoria Recinto, had trained in Canada for three months before the Games.

On why she didn’t perform well on uneven bars, she said, “I don’t really have skills on bars.”

She said she was a bit apprehensive performing alone here because it carries some psychological disadvantage.

“Definitely (I like) a full team. It would have been a lot more fun. Someone’s there to support you.”

Korea, China, Japan and Uzbekistan are in the race for the gold medals.

In their division, Korean won unchallenged, being the only team with a full lineup. It finished first with 206.850.

The other competitor was Vietnam, which had three.

The Vietnamese, trained in China, did better although they did not factor in the final event.

Thi Thu Huyen Do, who did better in the beam with 12.750, said her training in China for six years was of great help.

“I have been in China for about six years. I came here after I learned some gymnastics. I have made lots of progress in China,” she said.

Korea Jo Hyun Joo was the division’s highest-scoring all-around gymnast, despite falls from the balance beam and uneven bars.

She earned Korea’s top individual scores on the vault and floor exercise.

Park Ji Yeon was Korea’s top scorer on the uneven bars and Moon Eunmee led Korea on the balance beam.

The qualification and team final in division 2 was to be completed yesterday afternoon.

China, the Asian Games and Olympics champion, is competing in division 3 scheduled in the evening.