Perfect mix of old and young faces
divers concluded another edition of the Sea Games as runaway champions of the sport after amassing a commendable eight gold, three silver and one bronze medals in Hanoi.
This is the ninth edition in a row in which Malaysia have emerged as overall champions in the sport stretching back to 2005.
National coach-cum-team manager Leong Mun Yee, who fielded a mix of youth and experience at the My Dinh Aquatics Centre, is pleased with how her athletes handled the expectations placed on them.
“We had aimed for eight gold and four bronze but we have managed to exceed out target by winning 8-3-1. so I am pleased with our overall performances,” said Mun Yee.
“We had fielded one senior and one junior diver (in each event). This is the first step to giving our youngsters exposure at the Sea Games level.
“It was the first Sea Games for people like Ong Ker Ying and Bertrand Rhodict Lises and while there is still room for improvement, I think they handled the competition well.
“For Ker Ying, I believe she can still improve in terms of her individual dives and can also increase the degree of difficulty of her dives.
“For Rhodict, he is actually a platform diver but was still able to win a bronze despite having a short period of time to prepare.” Rhodict finished third in the men’s 1 metre springboard individual event which was won by senior diver Ooi Tze Liang. Ker Ying had partnered senior Wendy Ng to win the women's 3m springboard synchronised event gold. Mun Yee added that she believes the partnership of Pandelela Rinong-Nur Dhabitah Sabri will strengthen with more time.The duo delivered the nation’s eighth and final gold medal in the sport after winning the women's 10m platform synchronised event on Wednesday.
The duo were reunited as a pair this year following the retirements of Mun Yee and Cheong Jun Hoong from competitive diving last year. The latter two had previously partnered Pandelela.
“Pandelela and Dhabitah had actually partnered for the Commonwealth Games in the past. They, however, had a limited amount of time to prepare together for the Sea Games (since reuniting),” said Mun Yee.
“I think they can still be better in terms of individual dives and synchronisation and I expect them to improve by the time the Asian and Commonwealth Games comes around as they will have had more time to prepare.”
Dhabitah had also won the women's 1m springboard individual
event gold in Hanoi. Syafiq Puteh and Wendy had won the men’s and women’s 3m springboard individual event gold in Vietnam.
This is Mun Yee’s first experience as national team manager and she has not ruled out taking up the role again in the future.
“It is different from being an athlete. It is quite tiring actually but there is a lot of satisfaction especially as everything went smoothly,” said Mun Yee.
“I am also coaching with the national team now but wouldn’t mind taking up the team manager role again if I am offered the job in the future.”
Mun Yee had amassed a total of 17 Sea Games gold medals throughout her career between 2001 and 2017.