They (AUGUST 19 - 30) just Jell-ed!
Veteran Mun Yee strikes gold with Sabahan 16 years her junior
LEONG Mun Yee has marked her unprecedented 11th SEA Games appearance in glorious fashion.
The 32-year-old, who is the remaining member of the Jaya ’ 98 Commonwealth Games project squad which marked the rise of Malaysian diving, teamed up with Jellson Jabillin, 16 years her junior, to outclass their opponents in the 10m platform mixed synchro yesterday.
Despite combining for the first time, they impressed the seven judges, including Mun Yee’s Jaya ’ 98 teammate and former Olympian Yeoh Ken Nee.
Mun Yee-Jellson did well in all their five attempts to claim the gold with 311.94 points. They were miles ahead of silver medallists Jonathan Chan-Freida Lim (278.28) of Singapore and bronze medallists Della Dinar sari HarimurtiAndriy an (244.32) of Indonesia.
While it was Jellson’s maiden medal, Mun Yee has now collected 16 golds since making her Games debut at Jakarta 1997.
Four - t ime Olympian Mun Yee has amassed 26 medals in her illustrious SEA Games career, including six silvers and four bronzes.
“It feels really great to still compete in the SEA Games after 20 years. To win the gold with Jellson in our first-ever partnership made the day even better,” said Mun Yee.
“I must admit that even until today, I’m still a little nervous during competitions. But I definitely don’t feel as overwhelmed as I used to when I was younger.”
Asked if she feels “old”, she quipped: “Not really. There are actually two Indonesian divers, Eka ( Purnama Indah, 34) and Akhmad Sukran (Jamjani, 33) who are about my age. So I can tell you, I feel all right!”
Jellson, meanwhile, is proud to be competing alongside Mun Yee, saying that “she has taught me so much”.
The Sabahan was only seven months old when Mun Yee ruled supreme at KL 2001 with four golds.
“I used to watch her on TV. For me to combine with her to win gold for Malaysia today is a very special moment,” said Jellson.
“In the last two months of training together, she guided me and gave me a lot of useful tips.”
Earlier, Malaysia were also head and shoulders above the rest in the men and women’s 3m springboard synchro.
The women’s springboard title was won by Nur Dhabitah Sabri and Wendy Ng, who chalked up a 304.71 total to finish a whopping 67.95 points ahead of Ashlee TanFong Kay Yian of Singapore.
Ahmad Amsyar Azman and Chew Yiwei were also untroubled by Singapore’s Lee brothers – Mark and Timothy – as they retained the men’s springboard synchro gold with 399.15 points. Mark- Timothy earned 368.73 points.