WITH an eye on making their debut in December's Sea Games in Myanmar, back-up divers Loh Zhiayi, Mohd Nazreen Abdullah and Muhd Danial Sabri are eager to make an impact at the Asian Youth Games (AYG) starting today in Nanjing.
National coach Yang Zhuliang will use the two-day diving competition and the Asian Cup on Sept 25-30 to gauge the divers' form before finalising his Sea Games squad.
Danial will start his campaign today in the boys' springboard along with Zhiayi in the girls' platform. The Taiping-born Zhiayi is also down for the springboard and Nazreen in the boys' platform the following day.
"The trio have been showing progress both in training and in competitions.
"The recent stint in China has raised their confidence and self belief but they still lack the experience," said Zhuliang yesterday.
"They are divers with talent and I am confident they will be able to push for Olympic qualification in the future. As for now, they are still far behind."
"At the moment, they are inconsistent and I am unsure whether they can win titles in the Sea Games.
"However, they can prove me wrong in this tournament."
Regarded as the next big star in Malaysian diving, Zhiayi, 16, who finished fifth at last year's World Junior Championships in Adelaide, is the country's best bet for a medal in Nanjing.
She has been training diligently to increase her DD (degree of difficulty) in the last few months and hopes to impress in the AYG.
At the last AYG in Singapore four years ago, Malaysia won only a bronze through sailing due to the withdrawal of almost the entire contingent following the H1N1 outbreak.
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| Loh Zhiayi |
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