Monday, August 13, 2012

Malaysia's Olympic Campaign Comes To A Close As Bryan Fails To Make A Splash

LONDON, Aug 11 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's hopes of boosting its medal tally in the London Olympics drowned at the Aquatics Centre when Bryan Nickson Lomas failed to qualify for the next stage of the men's 10m Platform diving competition here Saturday.

The National diver did not make the cut to the semifinals of the Men's 10m Platform after securing 19th spot, one spot below the 18 divers who advanced to the semifinal stage Sunday.

He however, was put on the reserve list but in all probability, Bryan's chances of seeing action further is as good as over while the Malaysian contingent will wrap up the London Olympics campaign with one silver and a bronze since the Sarawakian was the last competitor to see action in the games.

Bryan, 22, from Kuching, Sarawak collected 434.95 points in the six dives, well behind leader, Qiu Bo from China who collected 563.70 and his fellow countryman Lin Yue who finished second with 532.15.

After collecting a respectable 81.60 points in the first dive, mistakes started creeping in his following dives, resulting in his position dropping from the reckoning after collecting 68.45 points in the second dive.

The third dive, a back 31/2 somersault, was a disaster as he managed just 29.70 points which saw his position drop from 18 to 26, dealing a severe blow to his medal hopes.

The 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games bronze medallist however, made amends by collecting 74.25, 96.35 and 84.60 points in the fourth, fifth and sixth dives but the late charge failed to lift him into contention.

In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Bryan finished 26th out of 28 contestants in the same event with 384.45 points.

Meanwhile, Bryan's failure did not help Malaysia's standing in the medal tally either as the country's position dropped from joint 52nd yesterday to joint 57 today with just two more days of competition left before the greatest games on earth comes to a close.

Malaysia with one silver and a bronze from badminton (men's singles) through Datuk Lee Chong Wei and diving (women's 10m platform) through Pandelela Rinong, are in joint 57th spot with Bulgaria, Estonia, Indonesia, Serbia, Thailand and Taiwan.

The USA remained at the top of the leader board with 41 gold while China are second with 39 gold while host Great Britain are in third position with 26.


From Zulhilmi Supaat -- BERNAMA

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