SLIP-UP COSTS PANDELELA INDIVIDUAL MEDAL
Slip-up costs Pandelela individual medal
DIVER Pandelela Rinong will go home with one medal for the first time in eight years after a slipup in the women’s 10m platform individual.
The Sarawakian had looked good to add another medal after topping the qualifying but a bad start (55.50) and a wobbly finish (64.0) put paid to the threetime Olympian’s medal hopes at the Optus Aquatic Centre.
From a bronzemedal position, Pandelela dropped to fourth with a score of 340.20.
Reigning world champion Cheong Jun Hoong finished fifth with a score of 332.85 and 15yearold Kimberly Bong ended 10th with 294.20.
England’s Lois Toulson benefited from Pandelela’s blunder to take bronze with 344.20.
Melissa Wu gave the home crowd much to cheer as she delivered Australia’s first diving gold with 360.40 while Canada’s Meaghan Benfeito came second with 359.75.
The 25yearold Pandelela, who won a gold in the 10m platform synchro with Jun Hoong on Wednesday, has bagged two medals in every Commonwealth Games since her debut in 2010.
She won a gold and silver at the 2010 New Delhi Games and a silver and bronze at the 2014 Glasgow Games.
A disappointed Pandelela admits that she is to blame for the slipup.
“My first and last dives could have been a lot better. My form was better in the preliminaries,” said Pandelela, whose last major individual medal was a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships.
“Jun Hoong and I did well in synchro and we couldn’t really recover in time. My level dropped a little.
“But that’s the nature of sport. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. What’s important is that we don’t give up.”
Meanwhile, defending champion Ooi Tze Liang struggled from the start to finish 10th with a score of 373.75 in the men’s 3m springboard individual event.
Chew Yiwei rued a penalty deduction on his third dive as he finished 11th with 347.20.
Tze Liang said he would get over the disappointing individual performance to focus on his partnership with Yiwei.
“I’m not sad at losing. It happened and I prefer to look ahead and focus on doing my best in the synchro event,” said the Penangite.