DIVING: Pandelela Will Need To Work Extra Hard

PANDELELA Rinong will need to stay ahead of her rivals as China are set to introduce new divers for competitions ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The 20-year-old will return to competition for the first time since last year's London Olympics at the six-leg World Series in Beijing on March March 15-17.

Pandelela is currently training in Dali, China after recovering from a right ankle injury which kept her out of last year's Asian Championships and Asean University Games after her bronze effort in the women's 10-metre platform at the Olympics.

China have dropped those who failed to win Olympic medals, and replaced them with juniors who are currently dominating the ongoing World Grand Prix in Madrid.

Wu Shengping and Si Yajie are among China's new divers in the platform discipline but Olympic champion Chen Roulin is expected to return soon.

"After the Olympics I made sure I had a good break from the sport but got injured upon returning to training. But now I'm back into it and looking forward to the season.

"I've been at two Olympics (Beijing and London). I'm learning all the time," said Pandelela before leaving for Dali, China with the national squad for centralised training earlier this month.

"The main thing for me is to tidy up everything I've got and hit the water with no splash. That is the difference between winning a medal and finishing with nothing."

She will compete in the opening World Series leg in Beijing followed by Dubai (March 21-23), Edinburgh (April 19-21), Moscow (April 26-28), Guadalajara (May 17-19) and Mexico City (May 24-26).

The World Series will be used by Pandelela to prepare for the World University Games (Kazan July 6-17) and the World Championships (Barcelona July 19-Aug 4).

The Commonwealth Games champion is also down for the World Grand Prix event in Canada (May 2-5) and the United States (May 9-12).

The outdoor event in the US will be crucial to Pandelela's preparation for the world meet, which will be held under the same conditions.

Pandelela needs to be consistent and also attempt more difficult dives if she hopes to win a second Olympic medal in Rio.

The 15-member squad are on a six-week stint in Dali and national coach Yang Zhuliang is helping them to improve on their dives. By Ajitpal Singh



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