Thursday, November 15, 2012

Lee Sisters Hope To Make Impact In Debut As A Pair

KUALA LUMPUR: The Lee sisters want to be remembered for more than just pretty poses at the pool when they compete in the Asian Swimming Championships, which begin in Dubai tomorrow.

Zyanne Lee Zhien Huey, 23, will partner Zylane Lee Yhing Huey, 20, in the duet discipline of the synchro swimming competition.

It will be their first outing in the Asian meet, which is held every four years. The meet also includes swimming, diving and waterpolo.

It was exactly a year ago that Zyanne and Zylane, together with Katrina Ann Hadi, played pivotal roles to help Malaysia pull off a grand clean sweep of all five gold medals in the Indonesia SEA Games.

However, Katrina, who was the number one ranked synchro swimmer then, is unable to compete in the Asian meet due to injury.

The path is clear for the two sisters to combine for the first time in a major championships and they are determined to make the most of the opportunity.

“Zylane and I have given our all in training. We hope to produce a good result, and of course, to fight for a medal.

“We hope to perform to our best in both our routines as we are targeting higher marks than our previous competitions,” said Zyanne, who was a gold medallist for Malaysia in the SEA Aquatic Championships in Singapore in June.

Olympic silver medallists China look set to clinch the gold and Japan should take the silver. Malaysia could nick a medal at the expense of South Korea and Uzbekistan, provided they can raise their performance on competition day.

The two sisters left for Dubai on Monday with swimmers Khoo Cai Lin, Yap See Tuan and Kevin Yeap.

Swimming will also take place this weekend but hopes of snatching a medal still rests on the diving team, despite being weakened by the absence of seniors Pandelela Rinong, Leong Mun Yee and Bryan Nickson Lomas.

The divers will only compete the following week (Nov 22-25) and Malaysia will be represented by two men (Ooi Tze Liang and Chew Yiwei) and three women (Wendy Ng Yan Yee, Cheong Jun Hoong and Loh Zhiayi.

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