Diver Jellson earns his place in the Youth Olympic squad

PETALING JAYA: Asian Games-bound diver Jellson Jabillin is the latest athlete to join the Youth Olympic contingent.

The 17-year-old chalked 455.75 points to finish 11th in the boys’ 10m platform final at the World Junior Diving Championships in Kiev, Ukraine, on Sunday to earn a spot for the Youth Olympics which will take place in October.

Jellson qualified for the top 12-final after finishing eighth in the preliminaries (467.45).

Another Malaysian diver Hanis Nazirul Jaya Surya did not make the final after placing 36th (316.20).

Only the top nine made the cut for the Youth Olympics, which is held every four years, but Sarawak-born Jellson got in due to the one nation, one representative criteria.

“China, Canada, Japan and Britain had two finalists each, so Jellson already confirmed his spot by reaching the final,” said back-up Chinese coach Li Teng.

“The boys’ 10m platform was the event targeted and I am happy Jellson managed to succeed.

“He will compete in the 10m platform individual and synchro (with Hanis) at the Asian Games in Indonesia next month, so we hope he will use it to build his experience.”

With diving in, Malaysia now have qualified for six sports.

The others are badminton (Goh Jin Wei), rhythmic gymnastics (Rayna Hoh), table tennis (Javen Choong and Alice Chang), triathlon (Chong Xian Hao) and the girls’ hockey team.

Jellson’s achievement is keeping up with Malaysian tradition of producing a diver in the Youth Olympics.

Pandelela Rinong and Ooi Tze Liang made the cut for the inaugural Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010 while it was Loh Zhiayi’s turn to shine in Nanjing, China, four years later.