PANDELELA Rinong hopes to compete in more outdoor diving competitions ahead of the World Aquatics Championships scheduled for July 19-Aug 4, in Barcelona, Spain.
The world meet will be held at the Piscina Municipal de Montjuic, which consists of two outdoor pools, and opened in 1929.
Pandelela, who has won numerous titles in world class competitions, said competing outdoors is more challenging than diving indoors.
"In indoor competitions, you do not have to worry about anything except your dives and the competition. But diving outdoors is challenging because of the win condition. It can affect your coordination," said Pandelela recently.
"I prefer indoor diving because most competitions are indoors. We need to adapt to this condition before the world meet. I believe my coach (Yang Zhuliang) has an effective plan to prepare us for it."
Pandelela made headlines by winning a bronze medal in women's 10-metre platform at the London Olympics last August. The 19-year-old has not competed since then due to an ankle injury picked up in training last year.
"I have recovered from the injury and training normally. It was never serious but I chose not to compete to let it heal fully," said the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
Pandelela, a silver medallist at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, will compete in additional competitions ahead of the world meet as she is the only Malaysian qualifier for the six-leg World Series which begins in Beijing on March 15-17.
The elite squad, comprising 14 divers including Pandelela, are also down for selected World Grand Prix events which start on Feb 15-17 in Madrid and the World University Games, scheduled for July 6-17, in Kazan, Russia. Those selected for the world meet will train in China.
Zhuliang said it will be an interesting season for diving as China have began grooming new divers for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
"In China, divers cannot afford to fail and those who did not meet expectations at the London Olympics have been dropped from the national squad. They have several new names," said Zhuliang.
The China-born coach is expected to test his newcomers at the Australian Youth Festival, scheduled for Jan 16-20, which is also the team's first assignment of the season.
Read more: DIVING: Pandelela eyes more outdoor events - Other - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/sports/other/diving-pandelela-eyes-more-outdoor-events-1.197326#ixzz2RFfwmrf9
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