BEAM FROM EAR TO FINAL

Inspired Amanda becomes first Singaporean gymnast to make last stage of world c'ships

- Kimberly Kwek Sports Correspondent

The past few days have been a whirlwind for Singaporean Amanda Yap as she juggled her exams while making her senior debut at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Jakarta.

On Oct 20, the 15-year-old took part in the balance beam qualification and flew back to Singapore the following afternoon for an O-level mathematics Paper 1 exam on Oct 22.

Even as her focus shifted to her exam preparations, the Methodist Girls' School (Secondary) student kept an anxious eye on the world championship qualification results.

And on Oct 21, she received the good news that she had been hoping for.

Huddled with her family members in her parents' bedroom at 10pm, there was an outpouring of delight when it was confirmed that she had made the eight-gymnast balance beam final, placing seventh with a score of 13.300.

While her family members shed tears of joy, Amanda was in a daze. She could not believe she had made the final - a historic achievement that no other Singaporean gymnast had reached before.

She said: “It was something that was very unexpected. It's very overwhelming, I don't think it's quite sunk in yet...”

“In that moment, it felt like one of the better routines that I've done so I was quite happy. But I didn't think it would be good enough to get into the final because there were also a lot of other gymnasts who have much better difficulty and higher scores.”