High hopes on Shareen-Xyanne to bring back bronze

SYNCHRONISED swimmers Shareen Png and Xyanne Lee will be hoping to go one better for Malaysia in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

Malaysia came close to bagging a medal in the duet competition in two previous Commonwealth Games, with Hazrina Sofian-Jacquelyn Chan and Suzanna Ghazali Bujang-Sara Kamil Yusof taking fourth in 1998 and 2002 respectively.

The torch has now been passed to the relatively new pairing of Shareen-Xyanne to bid to go one better.

It will be the second big meet for Shareen and Xyanne after they competed in the World Championships in Montreal last July.

The pair were ranked fourth behind Canada, Australia and New Zealand based on their results from the world meet, which eventually convinced the Olympic Council of Malaysia to let them go for the Games.

Shareen will also compete in solo but she lacks big meet exposure. The good news, though, is that the other countries will also be fielding new entries for the duet.

National coach Marietta Chen Mong said they had not seen the synchronised swimmers from other countries in action together.

“They stand a better chance in the duet because a country can only field one pair. Most of the top teams are fielding new pairs.”

The Chinese-born coach predicted that Malaysia should be fighting for a bronze with Australia and New Zealand for the bronze.

Canada, who will also field a new pair, will face stiff competition in the defence of the duet gold medal from England. Canada have never lost the duet gold medal in the synchronised swimming competition.

The 22-year-old Shareen, who has a background in gymnastics, admitted that they still lacked experience at the top level.

“We only started partnering each other for duet since last year. There is still a lot of room for improvement. I will use the chance to learn as much as I can,” said Sarawakian Shareen.

The 17-year-old Zyanne said they have increased their level of difficulty for their routine.

“We have changed the choreography and put more emphasis on performance in the routine which we will perform in Melbourne.

“We hope to finish among the medals.”

A good performance in Melbourne will also put them on the right track to earning a place in the Asian Games in Doha end of this year.

The other members of the national training squad based at Bukit Jalil are Tan May Mei, Yshai Poo Voon, Jillian Ng, Zylane Lee, Yew Li Ching, Katrina Ann, Yeo Pei Ling and Mandy Yeap.