Borneo diving scratch pair ‘Jell’ as Jabillin-enrique step up to deliver gold

KUALA LUMPUR: Scratch pairing Jellson Jabillin-enrique Maccartney Harold completed a day of double joy for Malaysia by stepping up to win the men’s 10m platform synchro event at the FINA Diving Grand Prix despite not being in the best of condition.

Jellson-enrique garnered 356.28 points at the end of the six-dive competition to take the gold ahead of Indonesians Adityo Restu Putraandriyan Andriyan, who finished with 310.59 points at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

The 21-year-old Jellson was pleased to have performed the routines without any big errors in his first partnership with the 17-year old Enrique.

“It was hard to control our dives but we are happy that there were no big mistakes today,” said Jellson, who is from Sabah and was a gold medallist at the Vietnam SEA Games in May.

“I did not dare to set a high target in the first place as my left knee was not in good shape currently.

“I had a tendon injury in my left knee a week before the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in August and I’m still getting treatment.

“I just want to see how my legs can cope in competition. I’m still happy to win my first Diving GP gold medal.”

Jellson has a chance to add to his collection when he takes part in the men’s 10m platform individual today.

Enrique, who is from Sarawak, was also pleased to made a winning return to competition following a knee surgery.

He had an operation to remove a tumour on his left knee and was only cleared to compete in the Diving GP by the National Sports Institute (ISN) earlier this month.

“We trained for about a month to prepare for this Diving GP and we did not have any expectations really, so this is a bonus for us,” said Enrique.

Ooi Tze Liang continued his fine form when he partnered Chew Yiwei to win the men’s 3m springboard synchro with 382.11 points while Australians Vladimir Rudenko-lachlan Cronin came second at 360.12.

It is the second gold for Tze Liang after winning the men’s 3m springboard individual on Friday.

The final day of competition today will also see Pandelela Rinong make a bid to deliver gold for Malaysia in the women’s 10m platform synchro with Nur Dhabitah Sabri.