National divers given nod for longer training stint in China

KUALA LUMPUR: The national diving squad will be cloistered in China for a longer period in a bid to turn them into serious medal contenders for the London Olympics in August.

The National Sports Council (NSC), buoyed by the team’s success at the World Cup in London last week, have given the nod for the divers to train in Guangzhou and Shanghai for six weeks before they fly off to London.


Malaysia will send their biggest diving squad to the Olympics, having already qualified for 10 out of a maximum 12 quota spots. They are the only country in Asia other than China to have representatives in the eight-pair field of the synchro disciplines.

The individual events, where Malaysia can field a maximum of two divers, are the men’s 3m springboard (Bryan Nickson Lomas and Yeoh Ken Nee), women’s 10m platform (Pandelela Rinong and Traisy Vivien Tukiet) and women’s 3m springboard (Wendy Ng Yan Yee and Cheong Jun Hoong).

Bryan also qualified for the 10m platform individual as well as for the 3m springboard synchro, where he got it right for the first time with Huang Qiang to clinch bronze at the World Cup in London.

Pandelela earned two additional spots in the synchro events, with Leong Mun Yee in the women’s 10m platform and Jun Hoong in the women’s 3m springboard.

The divers are happy with the most comprehensive preparation yet for a major international assignment.

The China stint is also prompted by the fact that the facilities at the National Aquatics Centre in Bukit Jalil are not up to the mark for the divers to raise their standards to compete with the world’s best.

Mun Yee, who will be the first Malaysian woman to compete in four Olympic Games, said it makes a lot of difference in terms of improving their routines, especially in the synchronisation.

“We trained for almost one month in Guangzhou at the state training facility,” she said. ”In China there is only one platform, so it’s much easier for me to communicate with Pandelela without outside noise compared to Bukit Jalil.

“There is also a harness on the pool which helps us get the correct feel for the dives.”

Huang Qiang, who is also coaching youngsters like Traisy and Ooi Tze Liang, said it is easier to get the divers to focus when they are in China.

“If we train in Bukit Jalil, there will be distractions. They will tend to want to go out with friends and talk on the cellphones after training. In China, we can put in quality sessions as we train six days a week without interruptions,” said Huang Qiang.