Beyond belief
Zhuliang thrilled after Jun Hoong confirms Olympics spot
No one gave Cheong Jun Hoong the kind of trust that her coach Yang Zhuliang (inset) did. And Jun Hoong did exactly what the Chinese coach had expected – making the cut for her third consecutive Olympic Games after coming out tops in the preliminaries of the 10m platform in the Diving World Cup.
JAYA: Yang Zhuliang kept his faith in Cheong Jun Hoong when others had given up hope.
And the former national diving coach was grinning from ear to ear after watching his charge confirm her third successive Olympics appearance.
Jun Hoong made the cut in style when she finished top in the preliminaries of the women’s individual 10m platform at the Diving World Cup in Tokyo yesterday.
The former world champion’s opening dive earned her 57.00 for 16th spot but once she steadied her nerves, Jun Hoong took charge in what is only her first competition in three years.
Jun Hoong took over the lead in her second dive with a neat 78.30 – her highest for the day. She, however, dropped a rung as her next dive garnered 57.60.
But she finished strong by nailing the closing two dives, entering the water with minimal ripple to take top spot with 75.60 and 76.80 respectively.
Jun Hoong garnered 345.30 points to lead the top-18 divers into today’s semi-finals at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
She did not compete in the individual event at her second Olympics appearance in Rio 2016 but instead partnered Pandelela Rinong to win silver in the synchro.
The following year in Budapest, Jun Hoong stunned the top Chinese divers by winning the world title before injuries curtailed her career.
Coming off from two surgeries on both her knees, she decided to head to China and train under Zhuliang, her coach when she made the golden plunge in the Hungarian capital.
“I’m very happy to see her make it to another Olympics. A year ago, nobody believed I can take Jun Hoong to the Olympics again as she had major knee operations and had not competed for a long time,” said Zhuliang.
“The postponed Olympics gave her more time but the Covid-19 made it hard for her to train smoothly. But she never gave up.
“That’s why I have faith in her. Furthermore, she trusts me to bring her back to competitive standard.
“Now, I just want her to just enjoy the competition (semi-finals) although I’m sure she will do her best,” said Zhuliang, who revealed that Jun Hoong used the same divelist
as in Budapest to achieve her slot.
Russian Iuliia Timoshinina finished second (336.70) ahead of Mexico’s Gabriela Garcia (325.65) while Pandelela came in fourth (325.00).
Jun Hoong is the fifth diver to qualify for the Tokyo Games. The others are Pandelela, Leong Mun Yee, Nur Dhabitah Sabri and Wendy Ng Yan Yee.