Zakaria steps down as MGF president

Winds of change swept through the Malaysian Gymnastics Federation (MGF) as its President Professor Datuk Dr Zakaria Ahmad decided not to seek re-election after helming MGF for 35 years.

Zakaria, a founder member of MGF who was challenged by his deputy A. Razak Mat Amin, decided to drop out of the race during the MGF Annual General Meeting (AGM) today, allowing the latter to win unopposed.

Honorary secretary N. Shanmugarajah, another founder member who has also served the MGF for the past 35 years together with Zakaria was however, retained as the Honorary secretary but he may not serve the entire term (until 2014).

Shanmugarajah is expected to step down in October.

Razak who is also the Terengganu Gymnastics Association president said stepping into Zakaria's shoes would be a major challenge for him since the former held an illustrious track record spanning 35 years.

"As the new president, I want to create awareness and turn gymnastics into a sport for all," he told Bernama at Wisma OCM, here today.

He added that his main task would be to take the gymnastics team to the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.

Meanwhile, the post of deputy president was won by former gymnast Kaurgit Kaur while the three vice president posts were won by Datuk Tan Gin Soon (Penang Gymnastics Association), Azmi Hassan (Putrajaya) and Petrina Low Lai Hun (Federal Territories).