POISED TO STRIKE
Tze Liang-Yiwei on target for world meet medal
REIGNING Commonwealth Games champion Ooi Tze Liang and Chew Yiwei achieved a remarkable feat by reaching the men’s 3m springboard synchro final at the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest yesterday.
The Malaysians finished eighth with a six-dive 384.69 total in the preliminaries to make the cut for the top-12 final. The final was held late yesterday.
Earlier, Tze Liang and Ahmad Amsyar Azman failed to reach the men’s 1m springboard final after finishing 25th (325.70) and 30th (313.00), respectively.
In the women’s 1m springboard event , Cheong Jun Hoong, who is returning from a back injury, made the final by finishing third with a five-dive total of 272.75 points in the preliminaries on Friday.
Compatriot Nur Dhabitah Sabri failed to make the top-12 cut when she finished 17th with 242.35 points.
Australian Keeney Maddison topped the event with 283.80 points, while China’s Chen Yiwen finished second with a 277.20 series.
It was a huge breakthrough for Jun Hoong, who won a bronze medal in the event at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, as she had missed last year’s edition in Kazan through a heel injury. The final was held late yesterday.
Jun Hoong-Pandelela Rinong will also be gunning for a medal for Malaysia in the women's 10m platform synchro today.
"Jun Hoong performed well and did not show signs of her back injury during the competition. Except for the second attempt, the rest of her dives were consistent today.
“Her main focus is, however, the platform synchro with Pandelela,” said national coach Yang Zhuliang yesterday.