KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian divers gearing up for the London Olympics in July received a timely lift with the arrival of new Chinese coach Zhang Yikun.
The 49-year-old from Hubei was one of the coaches in the Chinese national team and trained Zhou Luxin to silver medals at the 2007 World Championships and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
He later went to Indonesia and was in charge of the national team when they hosted the SEA Games last year. Indonesia was the only country apart from Malaysia to win gold at the SEA Games diving competition.
His presence here is significant as he is confirmed as one of the two coaches who will be taking the squad for the London Olympics in July. The other is head coach Yang Zhuliang.
The Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia made a request to the National Sports Council (NSC) to strengthen the coaching force after Huang Qiang, who was also one of the three coaches helping the elite squad, helped Malaysia to earn a quota spot for the men’s 3m springboard synchro at the World Cup meet in London last month.
“He has accepted the offer to become a coach here. Zhang will be here on a two-year contract and he is going to the Olympics.
“Huang Qiang will still be helping out with coaching but he has to focus more on training especially as the Olympics is only a few months away.
“We need the extra hands around, especially as we have a very big group going to the Olympics this time. Zhang is experienced and he will complement the coaching set-up.
“Zhang was the coach of Zhou Luxin, who won the 2006 World Cup title and was China’s top male platform diver at that time,” said Edwin.
The head coach himself welcomed an additional coach.
“Previously, we had four divers who qualified for the Beijing Olympics. This time, eight or probably nine divers will be going due to the quota spots we have earned so far,” said Zhuliang.
“Huang Qiang will help out on harness training and Zhang can take over the other coaching aspects.”
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