Semi-finals on Mun Yee's mind

CONSISTENCY is the worrying factor on Leong Mun Yee's (pic) mind as she inches towards her third Olympic appearance in two weeks' time.

It is that extra twitch in her routines that will determine whether or not the 22-year-old from Ipoh meets her target of finally making the semi-finals in the 3m springboard.

Some factors, like her familiarity with Beijing's spanking state-of-the-art 'Water Cube' that will host the Olympic diving events will work in her favour but on paper Mun Yee realises she is a rank outsider.

Mun Yee, along with those in the Olympic diving squad, have tasted action in the Water Cube in the World Cup leg held there in in March.

"Right now, the degree of difficulty (DD) of my dives remain the same. And there's not much more we can do in training. It is just about the consistency in every dive," said Mun Yee.
"The venue won't be a factor at all because I've competed there before and I really like it."

The diving squad completed their centralised training programme with a 36-day stint in Kunming, China, which ended last Wednesday.

"All the important stuff was done there. So, right now it is about just keeping everything in place. After two previous Olympics, my simple dream now is to just make the semi-finals because I've never managed it before," added Mun Yee.

Only the 18 most elite divers in the world cut it as Olympic semi-finalists, and that, with Mun Yee ranking consistently among the top 20 in World Cups, should be within striking distance.

"I'm not going to increase the DD as my hardest dives are at 3.0 and the most we can go is 3.1. I will just try to maintain the consistency to complete good dives in every round."

The diving squad, which also includes Bryan Nickson Lomas, Pandelela Rinung and Elizabeth Jimie, leave for Beijing on Sunday.

NST