World Cup to be held a month after Olympics
seems like the Diving World Cup will take place in Tokyo after all, albeit a month later.
The World Cup, initially scheduled for April 18-23, was called off by Fina, the world governing body for aquatics, over Covid-19 health and safety concerns.
However, reports from Japan yesterday indicated a change of heart, and the World Cup, which is the last Olympic qualifying event, will instead go ahead in May.
National diving coach Christian Brooker welcomed the positive development regarding the World Cup.
“I am happy to hear of this, although it’s still a rumour, and we will reserve our excitement until it is confirmed by Fina.
“But I’ll be glad if they bring it back as we’ll have more time to prepare.
“If it does go on, we will be ready,” added the Australian coach after overseeing Malaysia Swimming’s (MS) selection trials at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
Meanwhile, Chew Yiwei made a superb comeback to top the men’s 3m springboard individual event on the final day of the trials yesterday.
Yiwei, who has never qualified for the Olympics, finished with a six-dive total of 416.65 points, followed by Syafiq Puteh (415.40) and Ooi Tze Liang (395.10).
Yiwei, who also partners Tze Liang in the 3m springboard synchro, is likely to get the nod for the World Cup.
“This is more of a practice competition for them, and I think the divers have been improving on their scores compared to the simulation competition we had last year,” said Brooker.
“There are still some things to work on, such as the entry, but I think we are on track.
“I also think they’ve dealt with the pressure well because the main purpose was to have some competition to see where they’re at and to make sure we’re doing things right before the World Cup.”
To date, only four women divers — Pandelela Rinong, Leong Mun Yee, Nur Dhabitah Sabri and Wendy Ng — have qualified for the Olympics.