A wise decision
WORTH IT: Heeding father’s advice leads to Amsyar realising his dream
FOOTBALL was Ahmad Amsyar Azman’s first love but he switched to diving as he felt there was a better chance of him becoming an Olympian.
The Kangar-born was also equally good in track and field, sepak takraw, handball and squash but heeded his father’s advice to focus on diving when he was in primary school.
His father, Azman Hassan wanted Amsyar to be a diver as he felt his son had bigger potential to make it huge in the sport.
“My dad noticed that I liked to jump a lot from one end to another in the house when I was young and from there, he advised me to focus on diving instead of other sports,” Azman told recently.
“When I first stood on the springboard, I felt dizzy and feared leaping off it into the pool. I always had fear for heights. However, after years of training and also the encouragement from my father, I adapted with the situation.
“I must thank my father for pushing me into diving. It turned out to be the turning point of my life. If I had chosen football, it would have been tough to compete in the Olympics”
Amsyar, however, did not qualify for the Rio Olympics on merit. The Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (ASUM) and national coach Yang Zhuliang picked Amsyar to take one of two Olympic tickets earned by teammate Ooi Tze Liang.
The 24-year-old will compete in the men’s 3m springboard individual event, where he has a personal best score of 436.10 points.
If he achieves his personal best score, Amsyar could go all the way into the final in Rio.
“I owe it to my coach (Zhuliang) for putting his trust in me. I am finally going to be an Olympian. I will make full use of this opportunity to make my coach proud of me.
“When my coach told me the good news, he also reminded me to train harder and perform to my abilities in Rio. I will not let him or Tze Liang down as the latter worked so hard to earn the spot,” said Amsyar.
The former student of SMK Syed Hassan in Kangar started his career in diving when he was 11-years-old under China-born coach Lee Ju Rong and three years later, he was absorbed into the national junior squad after moving to Bukit Jalil Sports School.
Amsyar is currently in Dongguan, China for the final phase of training.
“I did not celebrate Hari Raya with my family in Perlis this year. Although I miss them, training for the Olympics is priority now.
“Everyone wants to be an Olympian but it takes something special to earn a medal in the games. I am progressing well and my first target will be to make the final of 12 divers. We will see how it goes from there,” said Amsyar.
On his preparation for the Olympics, Amsyar said he is working hard to polish his entries.
“A clean entry will ensure high points. It separates the champions from the rest. All the top divers possess excellent entries, and so I need to focus on it before the Olympics,” Amsyar added.