Wendy-Dhabitah Provide Golden Splash On Final Day

Nur Dhabitah Sabri (left) and Wendy Ng pose with their gold medal after winning the women's 3m springboard synchro event of the Malaysian Diving GP at the National Aquatics Centre on Sunday. - AZHAR MAHFOF/ The STAR

KUALA LUMPUR: Wendy Ng Yan Yee and Nur Dhabitah Sabri provided Malaysia a golden finish on the final day of the Malaysian Diving Grand Prix at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil.

Combining for only the third time this year, Wendy and Dhabitah emerged triumphant in the women’s 3m springboard synchro event after chalking up 274.41 points.

Compatriots Jasmine Lai Pui Yee-Kam Ling Kar were second on 267.51 while Americans Deidre Freeman-Maren Taylor of the United States piled up 259.80 points for third spot. The Americans, however, took the silver due to the “one country, one podium” ruling applied in the championships.

No bronze was awarded as only three pairs took part. China did not enter their divers in the event.


“I think we are improving as a pair. It’s only our third outing, so it’s quite remarkable,” said Wendy, who also won the same event with Cheong Jun Hoong in Singapore last week.

Dhabitah believes she can establish a strong combination with Wendy if given the chance to compete in more championships.

“We combined for the first time at the Diving World Cup in Shanghai in July, and we managed to enter the final. We finished seventh out of 17 pairs,” said Dhabitah.

“Wendy and I are about the same in terms of height and weight, so we have a slight edge in synchronisation,” added Dhabitah.

In the women’s 10m platform synchro event, Pandelela Rinong-Jun Hoong failed to make it a double joy for Malaysia. They narrowly lost the gold to China’s Si Yajie-Ji Siyu.

The Malaysians were in pole position with one more round to go. But they botched the final dive and ended up with 327.84 points to settle for the silver. Siyu-Yajie stamped their mark with a 332.70 total.

Loh Zhiayi-Dhabitah finished third with 293.67 points, but the “one country, one podium” ruling meant the bronze was awarded to fourth-placed Katrina Young-Cheyenne Cousiheau of the United States (240.84).

Ooi Tze Liang gave Malaysia one more bronze after amassing 448.60 points to finish third behind China’s Huo Liang (532.30) and American Tobey Stanley (456.25) in the men’s 10m platform individual event.

Malaysia ended their campaign with a gold, four silvers and three bronzes to finish second overall. China, as expected, topped the medal tally with a 7-2-1 haul. A total of 10 countries competed in the championships.

FINA Diving Grand Prix

Guanajuato, Mexico

15 -18 Mei 2014

No	Athletes	Class
1.	Loh Zhiayi	5 SEA
2.	Muhammad Nazreen b. Abdullah	4 SUKMA
3.	Nur Dhabitah bt. Sabri	3 ASEAN
4.	Adeline Chin Wei Ling	3 Olimpik
5.	Kam Ling Kar	Pra U Sas 2

Dhabitah On Course For Asiad and C’wealth bow

PETALING JAYA: Young diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri has put herself in line for a place in the individual 10m platform event alongside the illustrious Pandelela Rinong at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games following a strong performance at the German Grand Prix in Rostock.

The 15-year-old Dhabitah managed to clear the semi-finals of the individual 10m platform at a World Grand Prix meet for the first time.

Dhabitah scored 302.85 points en route to a fourth spot in the preliminaries. The top 12 divers advanced to the semis but Dhabitah’s run was halted when she could only finish fifth in her semi-final grouping with 269.20 points.

The top three divers from the two semi-final groupings progressed to the final, which was eventually won by China’s Qian Ren with 353.40 points.

China completed a 1-2 sweep with Jie Lian taking the silver with 344.25 points while Ukrainian Jullia Prokopchuk was third with a 325.55 total.

Dhabitah, in fact, outshined her more experienced team-mate Traisy Vivien Tukiet, who competed at the 2012 London Olympics. Traisy failed to qualify for the semi-finals and was only placed 16th in the preliminaries with 260.55 points.

Coach Yang Zhuliang was full of praise for Dhabitah.

“Dhabitah performed better than Traisy for the second time at the Grand Prix level.

“Dhabitah had a very good chance to make the final as she was lying in third position with one dive to go in the semis. But she flopped the last dive and earned less than 20 points. Her nerves failed her but I still think it’s a good performance for Dhabitah,” said Zhuliang.

With more experience, the Chinese coach is convinced his young charge can go far.

“The main assignments this year are the Commonwealth Games (in July) and Asian Games (in September).

“If she improves further in the next few months, she should be going for both Games,” added Zhuliang.

The Kuala Lumpur-born Dhabitah was promoted to the elite squad last year and she made her SEA Games debut in Myanmar in style, bagging gold with Leong Mun Yee in the 10m platform synchro.

In Rostock, Dhabitah was also entered for the individual 3m springboard but did not qualify for the semis. Dhabitah and Adeline Chin finished 15th (227.85 points) and 18th (223.65 points) respectively.

Chew Yi Wei, the only Malaysian male diver in the fray, was placed 26th in the individual 3m springboard prelimaries with a 326.45 total.

Dhabitah Gives A Sterling Performance In Fort Lauderdale

Nur Dhabitah Sabri is tipped to be next Pandelela of Malaysia.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia may have bagged two medals at the just-concluded FINA United States Grand Prix but it was the performance of young diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri that was the talking point at Fort Lauderdale.

Though Nur Dhabitah did not win any medal, she still managed to make an impression in her first major international outing – thus raising hope that she can be the next Pandelela Rinong.

At 13, Dhabitah just missed out on making the women’s 10m platform semi-finals after finishing 14th in the preliminaries.

London Olympic bronze medallist Pandelela skipped the individual event and partnered Leong Mun Yee to a silver in the platform synchro.

Traisy Vivien Tukiet, who featured in the World Championships in Shanghai in 2011, did reach the semi-finals in 12th place but had a dismal performance in the preliminaries – failing to even breach 300 points (294.00).

Traisy fared even worse in the semi-finals, scoring lowest with 223.70 points.

Dhabitah garnered 264.70 points in the preliminaries but she could have earned more if not for a disastrous final attempt.

What makes Dhabitah’s efforts more compelling is that coach Yang Zhuliang had made her dive with a higher level of difficulty compared to Traisy and Pandelela.

It was also the first time that Dhabitah was diving from the 10m height. Previously, she had the option of performing her routine from either the 5m or 7m height at the junior level.

Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (Asum) secretary Edwin Chong said there were no plans to drop Traisy from the world meet in Barcelona in July just because of one bad performance.

“With the exception of those who took part in the Diving World Series, the rest of our divers have not gone for any competition so far,” said Edwin.

“We have to be fair to them. Likewise, Dhabitah has done well for someone who has not competed at the Grand Prix meet before.

“We want to start her on a higher level of difficulty so that she can challenge strongly in a few years’ time.

“The competition is not getting any easier ... we want her to be ready when the time comes.

“We will consider taking her to the SEA Games in Myanmar at the end of this year.”

Dhabitah was promoted to the elite diving squad this year after shining in her first senior international competition by bagging a double at the South-East Asia (SEA) Swimming Championships in Singapore last June.

She went on to win two gold medals at the Kuantan Sukma a month later.

Jun Hoong-Wendy Continue Fine Form With Bronze in 3m Springboard

Winners again: Cheong Jun Hoong and Wendy Ng Yan Yee (right) won bronze in the 3m springboard again at the FINA United States Diving Grand Prix in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday.

PETALING JAYA: It looks like Malaysia may not have to rely on just Pandelela Rinong-Leong Mun Yee to fly the flag high at the major meets from now on.

The fast-improving women’s 3m springboard pairing of Cheong Jun Hoong-Wendy Ng Yan Yee are proving to be worthy contenders as well.

Jun Hoong-Wendy bagged a bronze in the 3m springboard on the final day of the FINA United States Diving Grand Prix in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday.

It was their third medal in as many competitions – and their first at the Grand Prix level.

The duo had also claimed bronze in the prestigious Diving World Series legs of Edinburgh and Moscow last month.

Jun Hoong-Wendy chalked up 282.90 points to finish third behind China’s Zhang Jun-Qu Lin (311.40) and Ukraine’s Anna Pymenska-Olena Fedorova (293.70).

A total of nine pairs competed and the Malaysian duo had their work cut out for them.

There was no sign of a medal at one stage – when they were placed a lowly seventh after the third round.

Jun Hoong-Wendy, however, found themselves in medal contention by the end of the fourth attempt – a superb dive of 71.10 points enabled them to climb up four rungs to third.

But they could only garner 61.20 in the final dive.

Fortunately, their closest rivals – Italy’s Tania Cagnotto-Francesca Dallape, who finished fourth in last year’s Olympics, and Japan’s Sayaka Shibusawa-Mai Nakagawa – also flopped in their final attempts.

Jun Hoong-Wendy’s good run on the international stage has prompted head coach Yang Zhuliang to rethink his plans.

Zhuliang had earlier wanted London Olympics bronze medallist Pandelela to do triple duty at the World Championships in Barcelona in July.

He was planning to pair up Pandelela, who will already assume a double role in the platform discipline – with her London Olympics partner Jun Hoong once more for the women’s 3m springboard synchro at the world meet.

The move was aimed at boosting Malaysia chances of winning a medal at the world meet.

But Wendy has proven that she is not the weak link in the partnership.

“Their performances will certainly help raise their profiles in the international scene. They can do well at the world meet ... we’re hoping for a top-six finish at least as that will help the country earn a place in the Diving World Series next year,” said Zhuliang.

Pandelela-Mun Yee took silver in the women’s 10m platform synchro on Saturday. The divers will now head for Guadalajara, Mexico, for the fifth leg of the Diving World Series this weekend.

Silver Lining In Fort Lauderdale For Pandelela-Mun Yee

Malaysian pride: Divers Pandelela Rinong (right) and Leong Mun Yee pose with their trophies after the prize giving ceremony for the women’s 10m platform synchro final at the FINA United States Grand Prix in Fort Lauderdale.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian diving duo – Pandelela Rinong and Leong Mun Yee – have plunged their way to a silver medal in their pet event at the FINA United States Grand Prix in Fort Lauderdale.

The duo chalked up a total of 295.62 points in the 10m platform synchro final and could have grabbed the gold if not for their inconsistency.

This is, in fact, the lowest they’ve managed this year compared to the scores earned in the other three legs of the Diving World Series.

China’s young pair of Lian Jie-Huang Xiaohui (321.54pts) captured the gold comfortably while the bronze went to Sarah Barrow-Tonia Couch of Britain (292.68).

The Malaysians scored 48.60-48.00-67.50-56.64-74.88 in their five attempts but Pandelela-Mun Yee must work harder on their consistency if they harbour hopes of fighting for a medal at the World Championships in Barcelona in July.

“This kind of performance was enough for them to get a medal because countries like China and Canada did not send their top pairs,” said diving coach Yang Zhuliang, who warned that Pandelela-Mun Yee could not afford to flop a single dive when it comes to the world meet.

“Still this was a good preparation for the world meet. The competition was held outdoors and the divers had a good feel of the conditions, which will be similar to the conditions in Barcelona in July.”

In the men’s 3m springboard synchro, the pair of Ahmad Amsyar Azman and Ooi Tze Liang finished a creditable seventh out of 11 competitors with 348.24 points.

China’s He Chao-Li Shixin (430.38) took the gold after narrowly edging Oleksiy Prygorov-Iliya Kvasha (428.37) of Ukraine. The bronze medal went to Mexico’s Rommel Pacheco-Jahir Ocampo Marroquinn (394.32).

Malaysia will be hoping for more cheers from Wendy Ng Yan Yee and Cheong Jun Hoong in the women’s 3m springboard synchro today.

The pair won a bronze in the Edinburgh and Moscow legs of the Diving World Series last month.

Earlier, Jun Hoong and Wendy failed to qualify for the 3m springboard individual final after finishing fifth and sixth respectively. Only the top three finishers from the two semi-final groupings will advance to the final.

FINA Diving Grand Prix 2011

27 _ 29 MAY 2011

ROSTOCK, GERMAN

BJSS Athletes:
1. Davis Ooi Tze Liang 4 SEA
2. Traisy Vivien ak Tukiet 4 Asian