Minghong And Zhaowei To Complement Coaching Set-up

KUALA LUMPUR: The arrival of two new coaches from China this weekend will boost efforts to fast track the juniors towards inclusion into the 2016 Olympic training programme.

The duo – Wu Minghong and Pan Zhaowei – and former national divers Yeoh Ken Nee and Rossharisham Roslan will help complement the coaching set-up at the Bukit Jalil base.

Minghong and Zhaowei, both 26, were gold medallists for China in the World University Games in Belgrade in 2009.

Ken Nee and Rossharisham won the country’s first silver medal in diving at the Asian Games in Doha in 2006 in the men’s 3m springboard synchro.

Rossharisham quit the national squad two years ago while Ken Nee followed suit after the London Olympics, where he became the first Malaysian male diver to qualify for the final.

Head coach Yang Zhuliang said the two new China coaches will be on a two-year contract with the National Sports Council (NSC).

“Before they decided to become coaches, they were in the national team. They did not go for the Asian Games or World Championships but have won medals at the National Games. If you can make the national team in China, you are already good enough,” said Zhuliang, who guided Pandelela Rinong to a historic bronze medal at the London Olympics in August.

“One of them (Minghong) is also the son of the head coach from the Guangdong province, which has produced so many Olympic champions.

“The two coaches will be here by tomorrow as their working permits have already been processed.”

Ken Nee and Rossharisham have already commenced work and Zhuliang is planning to modify the coaching structure. Currently, there are only three coaches helping Zhuliang. They are Zhang Yikun, Lan Wei and Huang Qiang.

“We have about 15 divers training here and will be bringing in a few more youngsters at the beginning of next year.

“With more coaches, the juniors will get more personal attention. It’s better for one coach to work with two or three juniors as we want them to step up and be competitive to join the senior divers by the time the 2016 Olympics come,” he said.

“I have high hopes for some of the promising juniors like Loh Zhiayi, Nor Dhabitah, Adeline Chin, Mohd Nazreen and Chew Yiwei ... to be ready to fight for a place in the Rio Olympics.

“I also won’t have to worry about the juniors being neglected at Bukit Jalil when we take the seniors for training in China as we’ll have enough coaches to go around.”

There are also plans to source for at least two more coaches for the state training centres.