Gold rush in Gold Coast Malaysian divers cap great outing with another three titles on last day
PETALING JAYA: Mohd Syafiq Puteh-Gabriel Gilbert Daim stole the show with a stunning win as Malaysia capped a great outing in the Australia Diving Grand Prix in Gold Coast by winning three more gold medals.
Syafiq and Gabriel, who were paired off recently after the retirement of Olympian diver Ahmad Amsyar Azman, won the men’s 3m springboard synchro final at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre yesterday.
They overtook China’s Wang Zongyuan-Wu Luxian after the third dive and never looked back to win the five-dive competition with 363.30 points.
The Chinese pair settled for silver with 358.71 points. Australia’s Matthew Carter-Li Shixin were also in the mix but could not hold their final dive to end in third place with 358.20 points.
It is the second gold for Syafiq in Gold Coast. Syafiq partnered Nur Dhabitah Sabri to win the 3m springboard mixed synchro event on Saturday.
Syafiq-Gabriel also won the men’s 3m springboard synchro event when Malaysia hosted the Asian Diving Cup in Kuala Lumpur in September.
But it’s a more satisfying achievement in
Gold Coast for Syafiq-Gabriel, who will be the back-up pair for Ooi Tze Liang-Chew Yiwei in the men’s 3m springboard synchro department in the near future.
Malaysia will have the luxury of having two pairs to choose from in the men’s 3m springboard synchro at the Philippines SEA Games next month.
“We didn’t expect to beat a Chinese pair and this is the first international win.
“This gives us more confidence for the SEA Games later. If we are selected, we will give our best to keep the gold medal for Malaysia,” said 18-year-old Gabriel, who is from Sabah.
The other Malaysians who delivered gold yesterday were Jellson Jabillin-Hanis Nazirul Jaya Surya who won the men’s 10m platform with 338.40 points ahead of New Zealand pair Luke Sipkes-Arno Lee (273.39).
Jasmine Lai-Loh Zhiayi came out tops in the women’s 3m springboard synchro event with 233.40 points.
Hanis and Zhiayi, however, finished fourth in the respective individual finals for the men’s 10m platform individual (292.00) and 3m springboard (230.40).
The divers will now get ready for the Malaysia Diving Grand Prix at Bukit Jalil this weekend.