, WEDNESDAY 24 AUGUST 2016 6 we are proud of you

Dynamic duo: 's Pandelela Rinong (left) and CheongJunHoong in action during the women's synchronised 10m- platform final at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Centre. Top right: Debutarit finished ninth among 12 divers in the 10m individual platform. Reaching"for'a higher platform Divers have comeof age since their humble beginnings

By LIM TEIK HUAT 1971 SEAGames in Kuala Lumpur. when Farah Begum Abdullah won the It is due to the [aya '98 programme (to country's first-ever medal- a silver - in the' OURdivers have again showed they can be prepare athletes for the 1998 Kuala Jakarta SEAGarnes two years later. depended on to-deliver at the world stage. Lumpur Cornmonwealth Games) which The breakthrough came ID 1999 in From a bronze through PandelelaRinong . started in 1994. . Brunei when Yeoh Ken Nee and Farah . . in the 2012 Olympics in London, Former-National Sports Council (NSC) ·claimed gold medals. Diving has not looked stepped up to provide a silver in Rio. director general Datuk Wira Mazlan . back since then as a major contributor for. through the women's 10m platform syn- Ahmad, who played a big part in theresur- Malaysia in the SEAGames. . . chro duo, this time through Pandelela and gence 'of diving, recalled that the involve- .National divers made their Olympic her partner Cheong [un Hoong. . ment started with Chinese coach LiJuirong, debut in 2000 with four qualifying for . , It was a masterstroke of diving coach who was attached to the Kuala Lumpur Sydney. The divers followed up with three Yang Zhuliang who opted to leave out the Amateur Swimming Association at that bronze at the Asian Games for the first most experienced member, Leong Mun time being recruited to train a group of time in Busan in 2002. Yee, after jun Hoong-Pandelela dived con- youngsters from scratch. . . Atthe , 3m sistently to claim silver at the same outdoor "Wesingled out diving for the [aya '98 , springboard specialist KenNee. and the venue during the DivingWorld Cup in Rio programme as the sport suited small-built 10m platform synchro duoof Bryan in February. . athletes. With a proper programme;we Nickson Lomas-james sandayud claimed Zhuliang was convinced that JUn Hoong- . believed we could win medals in the 1998 historic silver medals in Melbourne 2006 Pandelela would repeat the podium splash Commonwealth Games. for the first time.. . . . again in Rio. Juri Hoong-Pandelela did not "Diving started from scratch. We had to Pandelela capped a major achievement· disappoint as they grabbed the first ever .buildfacilities, including dry gyms and also when she won the country's first . synchro - and also the first introduce programmes in Perak, Kuala . Commonwealth Games gold medal in the for the Malaysian contingent in Rio on Aug Lumpur, , Sabah and Penang. One 10m platform in New Delhi in 2010.. 9. _ of the criteria in selecting divers was for. ·Malaysia should thank Zhuliang for turning The signs were already there for diving them to leap from a 10m platform without our divers into winners on the world stage. to deliver. Malaysia has bagged medals at, showing .any fear. ,- despite the limitations. the World Championships stage before this .: "We are talking about seven, eight-year ''.Westill lack good facilities. This year we Pandelela then partnered Mun Yee to a olds being told to jump off aplatform. had to spent long periods in because historic first - a bronze in the 10m platform . Many were afraid but the ones who our-usual venue in Bukit [alilwas closed synchro at the 2009 world meet in Rome. showed no fear were shortlisted forthe for renovation. The duo repeated the feat in Barcelona next stage. . "We do not have many options with our in 2013 and it was Pandelela who stepped "We also realised divers spent more time small nurnberof divers and they have to onto the podium for her first individual developing their acrobatic skills on dry train for more than one event. medal- bronze in the 10m platform in ' land rather than in the pool." "In China, there are at least 10 world- Kazan, Russia last year, After the basic facilities were in place in class divers for each event. If the regular Amazingly, the rapid progress diving Cheras, more coaches from China were ones do not meet expectations, they are made as a medal contributor on the highest brought in and Malaysia managed to send, replaced immediately for the next major stage comes after just four Olympic cycles. divers ., for the first time in 24 years - to · competition. , '. Before 1994, Malaysia had no facilities, the SEAGames in Chiangmai in 1995. ' . ''.With these restrictions, we have no athletes and no' history in in the sport Malaysia returned home empty-handed achieved so much and we hope we can get except for a one-off participation at the , from Chiangmai but hopes were raised better," added Zhuliang.