SUNDAY STAR, 29 APRIL 2018 Sport 45:.:: Syncing in Pandelela-Jun Hoang's trust in each other leads to stunning gold

BV LIM TEIK HUAT RESULTS

PETALING JAVA: It was a wonder- AI/finals ful day for Malaysian sports in Men 10m platform synchro: 1. Oiu Bo- Yang Jian Montreal as divers Pandelela (Chn) 472.11, 2. Aleksandr Bondar-Viktor Minibaev Rinong-Cheong [un Hoong regis- (Rus) 425.28,3. Steele Johnson-Brandon Loschiavo (US) 420.66. tered an upset win in the third leg 3m springboard synchro: 1. Cao Yuan-Xie Siyi (Chn) of the FINA Diving World Series. 463.38,2. Evgenii Kuznetsov-lIia Zakharov (Rus) Pandelela-jun Hoong became the 425.10,3. Sam Dorman- Mike Hixon (US) 410.13. Women 10m platform synchro: 1. Cheong Jun first Malaysian divers to triumph in Hoong-Pandelela Rinong (Mas) 322.74, 2.Kim .the prestigious series after winning Mi-rae-Kim Kuk-hyang (Opr) 321.90,3. Si Yajie-Lin the women's 10m platform synchro Shan (Chn) 320.82. . • event on Friday. 3m springboard synchro: 1. Chang Yani-Shi Tlngmao (Chn) 313.50, 2. Jennifer Abel-Melissa Lew YiYing brought more cheers Citrmi Beaulieu (Can) 304.83, 3. Esther Qin-Anabelle by taking bronze in the women's Smith (Aus) 295.80. individual epee (limb impairment) Selected: 6. Nur Dhabitah Sabri-Leong Mun Vee for Malaysia in the Wheelchair (Mas) 256.20. Fencing World Cup on the same day in the same city. The North Korean pair held on The Chinese team arrived in for the silver with 321.90 points. Montreal with a record of having China's scratch pairing of SiYajie- won every single event of the 2018 Lin Shan, the replacements for FINA Diving World Series, securing teenage duo Zhang Minjie-Zhang 20 golds in Beijing, China, and Fuji, [iaqi, surprisingly never led. the Japan. competition and settled for bronze But the 21st gold medal went to with 320.82 points. Pandelela-jun Hoong, who main- Pandelela was elated with the tained their consistent form so far achievement, especially as they also this year. had to cope with jetlag after arriv- The competition was so close that ing in Montreal on Monday. the. top three finishers were sepa- "This is my first gold at the Diving rated by less than two points. World Series since 2010 (her first Pandelela-Jun Hoong, - who outing), bagged the Commonwealth Garnes "1 feel very grateful. We trust Olympics two years ago. the first two legs. gold medal in Gold Coast, Australia, each other and this partnership Pandelela-jun Hoong have Malaysia's Nur Dhabitah Sabri- two weeks ago, took over the lead works. enjoyed a hot streak so far this year, Leong Mun Yee flnished sixth in the from 2017 world championships "Also, thanks to my coach Zhang having taken silver in the opening women's 3m springboard synchro silver medallists Kim Mi-rae-Kim Yukun for boosting our confidence. leg in Beijing before finishing with event with 256.20 points. Kuk-hyang of North Korea with two 1hope to stay injury free after this," a bronze the following week in Fuji Dhabitah-Mun Yee took bronze dives to go to nail a breakthrough said Pandelela, who also partnered last month. in the same event at the Gold Coast win with 322.74 points. . [un Hoang to take silver in the Rio Zhang. Minjie-Zhang [iaqi won Commonwealth Garnes.