PETALING JAYA: Malaysia enjoyed a new high in the FINA Diving World Series with diver Pandelela Rinong partnering Leong Mun Yee to clinch an impressive silver medal in the women’s 10m platform synchro in the first leg in Dubai.
It was the first time Pandelela mounted the podium twice in the prestigious series for diving as she had taken bronze in the 10m platform individual final on Friday.
And the Malaysian pairing earned their first medal for the season by coming on strongly in the last three dives.
Pandelela Rinong and Leong Mun Yee competing in the 10m platform synchronised during the FINA Diving World Series finals in Dubai yesterday. They won the silver medal. — AFP Pandelela-Mun Yee did not do well in the first two dives and dropped to fifth out of the seven finalists.
But the Malaysians recovered one position with a 72.80 and they were then headed for a battle with Canadians Meaghan Benfeito-Roseline Filion and Mexicans Paola Espinosa-Alejandra Orozco for the silver and bronze.
Pandelela-Mun Yee were able to put it together when it counted, scoring 73.92 for the fourth dive, to move into the silver medal position.
Another tidy effort earned the Malaysians 72.96 and a total of 316.38 to finish with the silver just ahead of Benfeito-Filion, the silver medallists at the World Cup in London last month.
The Canadians settled for bronze with 315.96 while the Mexicans, who were neck and neck with the Chinese reigning Olympic and world champions Chen Ruolin-Wang Hao in the early stages, missed out by 0.87 of a point.
Ruolin-Wang Hao led from start till finish to take gold with 344.40 points while Germans Christin Steuer-Nora Subschinski, the bronze medallists at the World Championships in Shanghai last year, were fifth with 307.53.
Great Britain’s Tonia Couch-Sarah Barrow and Ukrainians Iuliia Prokopchuk-Viktoriya Potyekhina ended sixth (300.18) and seventh (284.10) respectively.
Only the top eight divers and the top ranked seven pairs based on the world rankings are invited to compete in the series, which offers prize money.
Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia secretary Edwin Chong was delighted with the double delight in Dubai by the two London Olympic bound divers, who are the only ones to qualify for the series.
“We did not set any target for them as they had just finished the World Cup campaign like everyone else. Their scores are good but still not good enough to challenge China at the moment.
“But it’s good for their confidence level ahead of the Olympics as they are going to face the same competitors again in July,” said Edwin from Dubai.
The divers will go straight to Beijing for the second leg of the series to be held at the Water Cube Aquatic Centre this weekend.
The third and fourth legs are at Moscow (April 13-14) and Tijuana, Mexico (April 20-21).
THE STAR
It was the first time Pandelela mounted the podium twice in the prestigious series for diving as she had taken bronze in the 10m platform individual final on Friday.
And the Malaysian pairing earned their first medal for the season by coming on strongly in the last three dives.
Pandelela Rinong and Leong Mun Yee competing in the 10m platform synchronised during the FINA Diving World Series finals in Dubai yesterday. They won the silver medal. — AFPBut the Malaysians recovered one position with a 72.80 and they were then headed for a battle with Canadians Meaghan Benfeito-Roseline Filion and Mexicans Paola Espinosa-Alejandra Orozco for the silver and bronze.
Pandelela-Mun Yee were able to put it together when it counted, scoring 73.92 for the fourth dive, to move into the silver medal position.
Another tidy effort earned the Malaysians 72.96 and a total of 316.38 to finish with the silver just ahead of Benfeito-Filion, the silver medallists at the World Cup in London last month.
The Canadians settled for bronze with 315.96 while the Mexicans, who were neck and neck with the Chinese reigning Olympic and world champions Chen Ruolin-Wang Hao in the early stages, missed out by 0.87 of a point.
Ruolin-Wang Hao led from start till finish to take gold with 344.40 points while Germans Christin Steuer-Nora Subschinski, the bronze medallists at the World Championships in Shanghai last year, were fifth with 307.53.
Great Britain’s Tonia Couch-Sarah Barrow and Ukrainians Iuliia Prokopchuk-Viktoriya Potyekhina ended sixth (300.18) and seventh (284.10) respectively.
Only the top eight divers and the top ranked seven pairs based on the world rankings are invited to compete in the series, which offers prize money.
Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia secretary Edwin Chong was delighted with the double delight in Dubai by the two London Olympic bound divers, who are the only ones to qualify for the series.
“We did not set any target for them as they had just finished the World Cup campaign like everyone else. Their scores are good but still not good enough to challenge China at the moment.
“But it’s good for their confidence level ahead of the Olympics as they are going to face the same competitors again in July,” said Edwin from Dubai.
The divers will go straight to Beijing for the second leg of the series to be held at the Water Cube Aquatic Centre this weekend.
The third and fourth legs are at Moscow (April 13-14) and Tijuana, Mexico (April 20-21).
THE STAR
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